The Montreal police service (SPVM) has confirmed that it has installed — and then suddenly removed — a fixed camera that automatically scans licence plates and collects vast amounts of information. The camera was used “to support targeted investigative work on a temporary basis,” the SPVM said in an email. The force confirmed the camera had been installed following a report by Radio-Canada, which said it had been installed on a streetlight on a median on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard in the Rivière-des-Prairies neighbourhood. It was removed hours after the report was published on Wednesday. The wireless, solar-powered device was the Cloudrunner Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) camera developed by Montreal-based tech company Genetec. ALPRs can scan vehicles and collect information, such as make, colour, vehicle type, speed, direction, and licence plates even when plates are dirty or obscured. The SPVM says the information collected is limited to “those responsible for the investigation” and that more cameras might be installed depending on the needs of the investigation. “One camera was removed in order to safeguard our ongoing investigative strategies,” wrote spokesperson Mélanie Bergeron, adding that the force avoids as much as possible revealing its investigative techniques to protect the integrity of its investigations. The SPVM said it used the ALPR camera under a lease agreement, but declined to say whether other Cloudrunner cameras had been installed elsewhere in the city. “Investigative techniques, including the methods and technologies used, constitute confidential information which certain individuals with malicious intent might attempt to exploit. You will understand that these are the reasons, amongst others, why we do not disclose the location of our investigative equipment,” the force said on Thursday. Montreal police have already equipped 30 patrol cars with the cameras, but the one in Rivière-des-Prairies appears to be the first time it has been used on a street in Montreal. Genetec’s website confirms it has deployed Cloudrunner cameras in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and has other clients in Montreal, including the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine. According to the Montreal police website, all data compiled from the ALPR cameras on their patrol vehicles is protected in compliance with laws and regulations related to the security of information and no personal information is collected. The data obtained is stored for five years before being deleted. Police agencies have credited the cameras as an important crime-solving tool. However, these types of cloud-connected cameras have raised questions about mass surveillance and how the information is used. Similar cameras made by the U.S. company Flock Safety, which boasts a network of 120,000 ALPR cameras across the country, have sparked privacy concerns after reports of misuse. Revelations include police officers caught using the system to stalk exes and colleagues and journalists uncovering that the cameras can be used to track people, contrary to the company’s claims that they only log vehicles. In Texas, police reportedly tracked down a woman seeking an abortion using the surveillance camera network, which has also led to law enforcement misidentifying suspects. Since then, opponents, including a grassroots group called DeFlock, have been protesting against the use of the cameras in their neighbourhoods, with some taking matters into their own hands and damaging or destroying them. Facing growing backlash from lawmakers and civil liberties groups, Flock Safety announced Thursday it is making changes to its platform. CEO Garrett Langley said as of Jan. 1, all law enforcement customers will need to implement an audit tool to flag abnormal search behaviour, which would lock the user out of the system when it occurs. With files from The Associated Press
