US Immigration and Customs gains vehicle tracking capabilities

In February 2018 the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed a contract with Vigilant Solutions, giving it access to the company's giant database of billions of license plate records, which can be searched to produce every place a given license plate has been seen in the last five years and issue instantaneous email alerts whenever a particular plate is newly sighted. Vigilant collects few of its own photos, but it acquires data from vehicle repossession agencies and other private groups, and partners with local law enforcement agencies, which often supply it with data from camera-equipped police cars. Vigilant's vehicle-tracking network generates as many as 100 million sightings per month, each of which is tagged with date, time, and GPS coordinates. The move fits with ICE's moves to expand deportations of immigrants beyond criminal offenders, especially to activists. Vigilant declined to share contract details.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/26/16932350/ice-immigration-customs-license-plate-recognition-contract-vigilant-solutions
Writer: Russell Brandon
Publication:  The Verge