License plate reader security cameras

The accuracy of a license plate security camera can be compromised if lighting conditions are not right, or if cameras are not properly equipped to record in low lighting and glaring light. Reading license plates at night is especially a challenge, as images will be too dark to make anything out without adequate lighting.

There are a few solutions to this, including buying license plate cameras with WDR and IR capabilities.

WDR cameras determine the correct exposure for the image in real-time, to produce a balanced image that is properly illuminated. This lets WDR license plate cameras record clear footage in situations where street lamps, headlights, and other light sources would otherwise obscure the image. IR infrared night vision is a common way to clearly capture license plates in the dark.

IR license plate cameras are often used by police to monitor traffic. Infrared cameras use LED lights in the front of the camera to illuminate areas with infrared light, which is invisible to humans. The infrared light allows cameras to capture illuminated, monochrome images of the area.

A plate reader camera with a varifocal lens lets you adjust the angle, focal length, and zoom of the camera to capture different areas in detail. This is helpful when you have a specific area or access point you want to focus on, or if you want to monitor different areas of your parking facility with the same camera.

Many network cameras with varifocal lenses allow users to adjust the lens directly from the NVR platform, instead of doing it manually. A license plate recognition camera and a license plate capture camera may sound like exactly the same thing, but there are key differences.

License plate capture cameras operate similarly to basic security cameras, only with higher resolution, shutter speed, and headlight compensation to capture license plate numbers in a variety of conditions.

License plate recognition cameras, such as the Flock license plate reader, combine special optical character recognition and license plate reader software to actually read plate numbers, then store them in a database using a VMS.

When mounting a license plate reader camera, it is important to consider the camera angle, location, and distance from the vehicles. Cameras should be ideally be installed exactly flush with the license plate, but any vertical angle less than 30 degrees should be adequate to read plate numbers. Horizontal angles should be less than 15 degrees. Mount your cameras at too high an angle, and the plate numbers may be too slanted to read, or be blocked by bumpers on SUVs and trucks.

The closer cameras are placed to the vehicle, the better, though cameras with higher zoom may not require close placement. How fast will the cars in your area be moving? The slower vehicles are moving, the better your camera will be able to clearly capture plate numbers. A vehicle that is moving under 5 MPH within 20 feet of the camera will be easy to read for most license plate cameras in various weather and lighting conditions.

More advanced license plate reader cameras with higher frame rates will be able to capture faster-moving vehicles. A license plate reader security camera should be zoomed in on license plates as much as possible to capture clear and readable images.

If you also want to capture the make and model of vehicles in your property, a good option is to use a dual sensor license plate camera, or to install another CCTV camera in the area with a wider view. In a dual sensor LPR camera, one sensor captures a narrow view of license plates, while another sensor captures a wider view of your area.

In , a Washington, D. In addition to deliberate misuse, ALPRs sometimes misread plates, leading to dire consequences. In , San Francisco police pulled over Denise Green, an African-American city worker, handcuffed her at gunpoint, forced her to her knees, and searched both her and her vehicle—all because her car was misidentified as stolen due to a license plate reader error.

Her experience led the U. Aggregate data stored for lengthy periods of time or indefinitely becomes more invasive and revealing, and it is susceptible to both misuse and data breach.

Sensible retention limits, specific policies about who inside an agency is allowed to access data, and audit and control processes could help minimize these issues. One of the better privacy protections would be for police to retain no information at all when a passing vehicle does not match a hot list. EFF has been investigating and combating the privacy threats of ALPR technology through public records requests, litigation, and legislative advocacy since The agencies claimed the records were exempt from the California Public Records Act because they were investigative records.

In , the California legislature passed S. The law also prohibits public agencies from selling, sharing, or transferring ALPR data except to other public agencies. EFF has coordinated volunteers to collect ALPR policies across the state of California and to expose agencies failing to comply with the law. EFF has also independently filed public records requests with dozens of agencies to shine light on their use of ALPR data. EFF investigated more than ALPR cameras operated by law enforcement that were leaking data because of misconfiguration.

These cameras were inadvertently publicly accessible through web browsers and Telnet interfaces. We have also contacted public safety agencies whose ALPR data was exposed online, often on websites accessible to anyone with a web browser, to responsibly disclose the security vulnerabilities we found.

Neal v. Fairfax County Police Department. Update: The hearing has been moved to January San Francisco—On Friday, Jan. Washington, D. The Electronic Frontier Alliance is made up of more than seventy groups of concerned community members, often including workers in the tech industry who see issues of the industry from the inside.

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