My husband, Mike Katz-Lacabe, is a human rights and privacy advocate. Several years ago, he discovered that the SLPD was secretly using license plate cameras to photograph both cars and the areas around them – and were keeping those records indefinitely. Since then, police departments have refused to share this data from citizens, but if you drive a car in the Bay Area, you can assume that the police has access to hundreds of photos of your car, you and the area around it.
Mike’s activities have been covered by the news media. Here, in reverse chronological order, are stories that are derived from actual interviews with him:
- FBI really doesn’t want anyone to know about “stingray” use by local cops, Ars Technica Feb 10, 2015 (Stingrays)
- Are License Plate Scanners Capturing Too Much?, NBC San Diego, Feb 10, 2015
- To the Point: License Plates, Law Enforcement and Violations of Privacy, KCRW Jan 30, 2015
- The small and surprisingly dangerous detail the police track about you , Ted Talk by Catherine Crump, Dec 2014
- Records Request Targets Cellphone-Spying Technology, San Jose Inside Dec. 3, 2014 (on Stingrays)
- California cities, counties have spent $65M on spy tech in past decade, Ars Technica, Nov. 12, 2014
- 2 Investigates: License-plate readers raising privacy concerns, KTVU, Aug. 6th, 2014
- Privacy Issues, KALW, Local Public radio, San Francisco, April 24, 2014
- Surveillance City?, Good Times, Jan. 29, 2014
- Radio Interview on Raising PRC flag and use of surveillance cameras in San Leandro, Brian Copeland Show, KGO, Sept. 29, 2013
- San Leandro Approves Surveillance System Amid Privacy Concerns, CBS 5 Bay Area, Sept. 7, 2013
- How A ‘Deviant’ Philosopher Built Palantir, A CIA-Funded Data-Mining Juggernaut, Forbes, August 14, 2013
- Big Brother Judges Your Vanity Plates – radio interview with Cyrus Farivar, references Mike Katz-Lacabe around minute 11, July 27, 2013
- License plate data not just for cops: Private companies are tracking your car, NBC News, July 19, 2013
- ACLU raises privacy concerns about police technology tracking drivers, CNN, July 18, 2013 (includes video)
- The cops are tracking my car—and yours, ArsTechnica, July 18, 2013
- You’re Not Driving Alone, Huffington Post Live, July 18, 2013
- License Plate Readers Raise Privacy Concerns, NBC Bay Area, July 18, 2013 (includes video)
- Millions of US license plates tracked and stored, new ACLU report finds, The Guardian, July 17, 2013
- Around the Bay Area, you’re being watched, Mercury News, June 30, 2013
- License-plate readers let police collect millions of records on drivers, Center for Investigative Reporting, June 26th 2013
- License plate readers tracking cars, San Francisco Chronicle, June 26th 2013 same as above
- SANDAG knows where you’ve been, San Diego Union Tribune, June 17, 2013
- Police Photo Program Questioned , San Leandro Times, Oct. 4, 2012
- San Leandro Man Star of WSJ Story On Police Surveillance, San Leandro Patch, September 29, 2012
- New Tracking Frontier: Your License Plates, Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2012 (includes video)
Oh, how the kids have grown since this 2009 photograph from the SLPD archives.