Eastview Mall parking scanners raise concerns for some: Law enforcement use them to track more than shoplifters

What’s going on with all of those cameras around the parking lot at Eastview Mall?

That question was posed to News10NBC, because readers from around the Finger Lakes noticed the cameras. What are they used for? How do they work? Is the data being sold to any third-party companies?

The answer is that the cameras are less-invasive than some have imagined.

They are Automatic License Plate Readers. The job is to track those coming-and-going from the parking lot. According to officials, who told News10NBC about them, they were installed several years ago.

“We’re not just looking for those that come here and target this mall maybe to commit larcenies,” Henderson explained to News10NBC. “This technology helps us locate folks that are elderly and may be lost if we have an alert a lot of times the ALPRs will put them here at the mall and we’re able to locate them.”

The cameras, which are installed at the four entrances to the mall runs vehicle information through a national database for law enforcement. They detect make, model, color, license plates, and state information running it through the database. They can also detect warrants out of other states.

Civil liberty groups have voiced opposition to the readers- noting that there should be stricter policies around them.

Staff Report

FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected]