Further ReadingWe now live in a world where if you have an IP-enabled security camera, you can download some free, open-source software from and boom—you have a fully functional automated license plate reader (ALPR, or LPR). Welcome to the state: the technology that was once was just the purview of government contractors a few years ago could now be on your own street soon. For years now, specialized LPR cameras have been used mounted in fixed locations or on police cars. These devices scan passing license plates using optical character recognition technology, checking each plate against a 'hot list' of stolen or wanted vehicles. This evolution culminated with (2003), its fifth and more pop-based album, and (2006), a work inspired by the future, with distinct operatic tones and an electronic spectrum closer to Voyageur than the earlier releases. According to Cretu, the inspiration for the creation of the project came from his desire to make a kind of music that did not obey 'the old rules and habits' and presented a new form of artistic expression with mystic and experimental components. The first was (1993), which incorporated tribal and ethnic influences and sold over 8 million copies worldwide, followed by (1996), which blended together the Gregorian chants reminiscent from the first album and the strong intercultural soundscapes present in the second. Automatically Recognize License Plates from Videos and Images. Knut nystedt. The devices can read up to 60 plates per second and typically record the date, time, and GPS location of any plates—hot or not. With this new open-source software, anyone can freely and easily create their own hot list. Further ReadingFor the last six months, the two-man team behind has built this software and given it away for free, largely as a way to draw attention to their other paid services: a cloud-based $50 per camera per month solution that includes 'high-speed processing' and 'priority tech support.' The company also offers a $1,000 per camera per month 'on-premises' version that integrates with an existing (usually government) network that has qualms about outsourcing data storage. OpenALPR notes its software 'will work with any camera that supports MJPEG streams. This includes visible-light and infrared cameras. The camera and optics should be configured such that the license plates are clearly legible in the video stream.' Matt Hill, OpenALPR’s founder, told Ars that this is a good way to level the playing field and mitigate the need for long-term retention. 'I’m a big privacy advocate as well—now you’ve got LPR just in the hands of the government, which isn’t a good thing. Cloud APIThis brings costs down,' he said. On the government side, there have been incidents where police-owned LPR misread and led to. Some cities have such cameras at their city borders, monitoring who comes in and out (case in point: the wealthy city of Piedmont, California, which is totally surrounded by Oakland). And again, the data associated with LPRs (plate, date, time, location) is often retained for months or years. ![]() Further ReadingAs the nation’s largest LPR private data collection company——has argued, automatically collecting license plates in public is fully within the bounds of the law. After all, drivers do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy over their publicly-visible plate number while driving down public roads. As a result, privacy advocates say, there’s not much to stop someone who wanted to use OpenALPR and compile their own hot list for cars passing in front of their home. An enterprising person could even use a car-mounted camera and create a mobile plate hunting device along the lines of what many police agencies already use., an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Ars that she had never heard of something like this. 'While a handful of states have passed laws explicitly restricting private citizens and companies from using ALPR technology, outside of those states, there is not much in the law that would prevent someone from using the technology unless its use rises to the level of stalking or harassment,' she e-mailed Ars. 'License plates are exposed to public view, and ALPR companies like Vigilant consistently argue they have a First Amendment right to photograph plates and retain the data they collect.'
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