Automated license-plate readers (ALPRs) have quietly expanded across the U.S., and nowhere has that growth sparked as much debate lately as Colorado. Cities and sheriff’s offices say ALPRs — many supplied and operated by companies like Flock Safety — help solve auto thefts and locate suspects. Privacy advocates and journalists, though, warn that modern camera systems do far more than scan plates: they can record audio, feed searchable national databases, run AI to detect logos or bumper stickers, and enable behavior-oriented searches that threaten civil liberties. CBS News+1
Why Colorado matters
Colorado has seen an especially intense rollout and public scrutiny. Reporting and local audits have revealed extensive deployments, data-sharing with external agencies (including previously to national networks), and thousands of camera sites cataloged by transparency efforts — raising alarms that the state’s ALPR footprint approaches a system of mass surveillance. Civic technologists and open-data projects have begun mapping these devices so residents can see where they exist and how data flows. The Boulder Reporting Lab+1
What the cameras can (and can’t) do — verified facts
• Modern ALPR systems couple plate-reading with on-device AI that can log time, place, vehicle make/model, and additional visual features (bumper stickers, temporary plates). Some vendors also integrate acoustic sensors (gunshot/audio detection) and richer analytics. Flock Safety+1
• Private companies operating ALPR networks may aggregate camera feeds into central, searchable databases used by multiple police agencies. Use of that aggregated data has drawn scrutiny for potential sharing with federal agencies and cross-jurisdictional queries. American Civil Liberties Union+1
• Citizen mapping projects (for example DeFlock/DeFlock.me and related efforts) have pushed back by cataloging cameras and resisting corporate cease-and-desist attempts — a sign of rising public demand for transparency. 404 Media+1
What this means for workers
Workers — whether delivery drivers, community health staff, outreach teams, rideshare and transit workers, or social-service employees — are on the move. Ubiquitous ALPRs change the risk calculus: routine routes generate locational traces; accidental associations (being near a flagged vehicle or place) can trigger investigations; cross-database searches can reveal movement patterns. For workers with immigration sensitivities, protest roles, or those doing sensitive outreach, this can be chilling. Axios
How GoVia will work with and around ALPRs to keep workers safe
GoVia’s mission is safety through transparency, trust, and community support. Here are concrete, research-backed ways GoVia will help protect workers in an era of expanding ALPR surveillance:
- Privacy-first incident reporting
GoVia will let workers submit reports (encounters, checkpoints, stops) with strong defaults: end-to-end encryption, optional redaction of location/time to a safe radius, and the ability to delay publication until a user-specified safe time. This reduces unnecessary exposure while preserving evidence. (Best practice in digital safety: minimize metadata and empower user control.) Flock Safety - Masked location features and anonymized telemetry
When a worker needs to log an incident in real time, GoVia can automatically fuzz exact GPS to a grid cell (e.g., 0.1–0.5 mile) unless the user opts into precise sharing. Aggregated, anonymized movement metrics can help organizations track worker routes for safety planning without storing individual traces that could be subpoenaed or shared. (Data-minimization reduces legal and privacy risks.) American Civil Liberties Union - ALPR transparency layer & mapping resources
GoVia will integrate community-maintained ALPR maps and public records so workers and employers can see where cameras are concentrated. Knowing hot spots helps route planning, scheduling, and informed consent for field work. We will surface vendor/agency policies (data retention, sharing rules) alongside each mapped site where available. (Public mapping projects have proven effective at raising awareness.) 404 Media+1 - Legal & policy toolkits for employers and workers
GoVia will provide plain-language guidance and templates: employer policies on ALPR exposure, worker consent forms, how to request data access logs from local agencies, and links to local civil-liberties groups. Where government reports reveal improper data sharing, we’ll point users to model ordinances and privacy safeguards that communities have used to limit data flows. Axios+1 - Partnerships for accountability
We’ll seek partnerships with privacy orgs (EFF, ACLU chapters), local bar associations, and labor groups to provide training, rapid legal referrals, and coordinated advocacy — because technical fixes alone aren’t enough: policy oversight and public process matter. American Civil Liberties Union+1 - Design limits — what GoVia will not do
GoVia will not build or rely on predictive profiling models that classify people by race, gender, or inferred behavior; we will avoid collecting facial biometrics or raw video unless explicitly needed and consented to. Vendor claims about AI features (vehicle fingerprinting, logo detection) highlight why we must limit what the app stores and shares. Wikipedia+1
Call to action for employers, agencies, and communities
If you’re an employer with mobile workers: audit routes for camera density, adopt data-minimizing policies, and offer privacy training. If you’re a community member or policymaker: demand transparency about who can query ALPR data, for what reasons, and for how long it’s retained. GoVia will continue building tools that help workers stay safe while pushing for public safeguards that preserve civil liberties.
Conclusion
ALPRs can be powerful crime-fighting tools — but without clear limits, they risk creating permanent, searchable records of everyday life. GoVia’s approach is pragmatic: protect workers with privacy-first features, provide education and legal resources, map the surveillance landscape, and organize for policy transparency. In a world of growing camera networks, safety is as much about technical tools as it is about who controls the data and how it’s used. GoVia aims to protect both.
— The GoVia Team
