The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is offering its opposition to Grand Rapids' plans to use license plate scanning technology for parking enforcement.
The Grand Rapids Press reports the ACLU of Michigan's western region unit sent a letter to city officials this week, saying that the scanners are another piece of surveillance technology that reduces "personal privacy rights and empowers the surveillance society."
The parking department is considering seeking bids for scanners to assist in checking to see whether parked cars have valid permits.
Department head Josh Naramore says the scanners automate a process that license plate checkers currently do manually. WOOD-TV reports that he told the City Commission on Tuesday that information collected would be deleted after 24 hours and not shared with police or the federal government.
