Police cameras

Improving technology has created endless fuel for the public-privacy debates of our time.

We live in a surveillance society with the government and private sectors watching our movements. Whether it's Google or Facebook tracking our online habits for profitable reasons, or the government tracking our whereabouts, there is perhaps less privacy now than ever before in our country's history.

As easy as it may be to sound the Orwellian alarms, there are sensible and appropriate benefits to having better technology. Reporter Erin Ragan recently reported that Cape Girardeau's police force has obtained license plate scanners that track the whereabouts of vehicles moving about the city.

The correct use of this technology can help keep the public safe, save lives and even find children who have been kidnapped. Cape Girardeau police have used the system in more than 15 cases that led to arrests. The system also has been used as an aide to identify potential suspects and witnesses in the investigation of a Dec. 16 deadly shooting. Gas thieves have been caught.

If you're a victim of a crime, you would want this technology available.

The problem is such technology can easily be abused. This technology could be used in any number of ways that are not appropriate. What if a police officer suspects his wife is having an affair? Would it be tempting to find out where she has been going?

The computer being used to store license plate information falls under city and department computer policy, which is very detailed in how it can be used and for what purpose. Officers cannot manipulate any information they download from the system for use in an investigation or to turn in for court evidence.

Unfortunately, there are several incidents that make us pause before putting complete trust in the government to handle such information appropriately.

In 2004, The Boston Globe reported that police tracked a Canadian reporter via the license scans after he wrote articles critical of the local traffic division. A senior officer admitted to inappropriately searching for the reporter's vehicle in a license scan database in an attempt to catch the reporter driving drunk.

It was recently uncovered that the IRS targeted conservative political groups with audits during a presidential election. We also learned the government secretly obtained two months of phone records of Associated Press journalists who broke stories pertaining to a foiled terror plot. Closer to home, there is an ongoing controversy about scanned documentation dealing with conceal-carry permits being shared with federal officials who wanted to investigate Social Security fraud.

It's not the technology that's the problem. It's the power that is associated with the technology.

In terms of license plate scanners in Cape Girardeau, we see how valuable the technology can be in solving crimes, enforcing the law and keeping the public safe. But there needs to be internal scrutiny and tough penalties to protect the privacy rights of law-abiding individuals.