One of our clients was involved in a minor accident. The vehicle involved was damaged, but there was a dispute with the insurance carrier regarding whether some of the damage had been pre-existing. So, they investigated and found a series of pictures taken of that car, in various locations including on the highway and while parked, showing the license plate. I have personally seen those pictures and they are all too real. They found a way to search databases for any pictures taken of that license place. In some cases, these pictures went back five years.
While I can understand why an insurance company would want to verify damage, this just seemed shocking to me. It caused me to think of all the times a camera took pictures of my license plate. While shopping at Walmart? Driving down the road. Based on these pictures, almost anywhere. Somewhere, out there, is a data base, with pictures of my license plate, showing exactly where that car was located on a specific date and time. Now, frankly, I don’t think I have ever driven or parked my car someplace that would create a problem for me. But this still seems like an invasion of privacy.
I have never attended a Trump rally. But, with this DOJ and this Attorney General, would they consider tracking license plate pictures to try and track down anyone who did attend a Trump rally? Did they use this to track down people they considered to be suspects regarding the January 6th, 2021, event? The potential for serious abuse is beyond obvious. But at least the DOJ has to get a search warrant with at least some argument for probably cause. It doesn’t appear as if the insurance industry has any such restraints.
This reminded me of another case, where I was approached regarding expert witness work. I was shocked to learn that an insurance company had demanded copies of the insured’s telephone records because they disputed a claim. I question whether a law enforcement could demand this type of information without a search warrant. This makes me wonder about the extent to which our private records are already on file and subject to search without our knowledge and/or consent. It is even more frightening to consider the potential abuse with a highly politicized DOJ that seems to be more focused on punishing political opposition than on stopping serious crimes including real terrorist threats. The people involved in the January 6, 2021, event often acted irresponsibly and probably did break the law, but they were hardly a terrorist threat.
I am not a conspiracy type person, but it is clear that all of us need to pay more attention. Some very untrustworthy people are collecting personal information on everyone and storying it for future exploitation. Most of us, who are not considered a threat, will be blissfully ignorant of this. But it is now clear that this could affect all of us and we need to be aware. Many people have been warning us about the enormous amount of data that is and has been recorded. Our primary protection against abuse of that data was the legal restraints against this being used irresponsibly. Sadly, with this administration, this Attorney General, and this DOJ, relying on their character is not particularly comforting. I easily predict that there are going to be some earth shattering cases regarding what data can and cannot be collected and who can and cannot have access to that data. If you are not thankful for anything else, give thanks that it was Donald Trump, and not Barack Obama or Joe Biden who appointed the last three Supreme Court justices.
TDM