Where license plate readers are tracking cars in Oregon
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Hundreds of automated license plate readers are tracking vehicles across large swaths of Oregon, according to publicly available data.
Why it matters: The cameras — many of them Flock cameras — can help police find stolen cars and wanted suspects. But they've also fueled a privacy backlash and a proposed statewide ban.
By the numbers: Oregon has 530 ALPRs, according to Finding Flock, an independent project that aims to catalog the cameras and their locations.
- Most of them are clustered in the western part of the state, with Multnomah County (84) and Jackson County (80) topping the list.
- The highest concentration of ALPRs in the Portland metro area appears to be at the Clackamas Town Center, where 25 cameras keep watch over the mall, its parking lot and various chain restaurants.
Yes, but: Oregon has a relatively low number of tracking cameras compared with other states, accounting for just 0.3% of all ALPRs operating across the country.
- By comparison, Harris County, Texas — home to Houston and nearly 5 million people — has more than 4,000 cameras logged on the Finding Flock map, the most of any county.
Friction point: Activists and citizens across the political spectrum are pushing back against license plate readers made by Flock and similar companies.
- ALPRs have emerged as the next big target of populist anti-tech, pro-privacy sentiment, alongside the data centers fueling the AI boom.
- Several police officers have come under investigation for allegedly using the cameras to track current and former domestic partners.
Zoom in: At least six cities and counties have canceled or scaled back use of the cameras over privacy concerns, vandalism to the cameras and the costs of running the system.
- Two state lawmakers — a Portland Democrat and a Douglas County Republican — revealed plans last week to propose a statewide ban on the cameras in the next legislative session, per the Oregonian.