Week Five Takeaways

This week we spent the majority of the time discussing Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology. We learned that this technology is ubiquitous and even used by the University of Utah's Parking Enforcement Office.

On Tuesday, we discussed the hypothetical from the previous Thursday in which Professor Dryer asked us to consider what questions we would have for a client who was considering whether to use facial recognition software for a kiosk that distributed coupons. As a class, we determined that we want to know the following:

1. How would the kiosk owner obtain consent from the users to use facial recognition software or would the kiosk even ask for consent?
2. Would the kiosk offer notice that it is employing facial recognition software?
3.How long would the images be retained and for what purpose ?
4.Are the images or information associated with the images sold to third-parties
5.Would the kiosk owner voluntarily offer these images to law enforcement or require a subpoena or search warrant.
6.Is the kiosk in a state that has stricter privacy laws.
7.Are minor using the kiosk?

On Tuesday, we also discussed several privacy issues that are prevalent in current events. First, Professor Dryer informed us that Jason Pierre-Paul's, the Pro Bowl Defensive end for the New York Giants, medical records were unlawfully "leaked" to ESPN. JPP had severely injured his hand in a fire works accident on July 4th. Employees at the hospital where JPP was treated leaked photos of JPP's injuries to ESPN. Next, Professor Dryer showed us a Five Hour Energy Drink advertisement that implied the beverage could help you beat the record for hackey-sack dribbling. The current record-holder for hackey sack dribbling sued Five Hour Energy for allegedly misappropriating his image. Thankfully, the court granted Five Hour's 12(b)(6) and tossed the case. Further, Professor Dryer mentioned Utah Representative Sandra Hollin's proposed legislation to "Ban the Box," which would proscribe Utah employers from including questions about an applicants criminal history in a job application. We discussed how this proposed law is similar to the European right to be forgotten. I am not sure how effective this law would be given the wide availability of background checks. Last, we talked about how you should you never become a sex offender anywhere  but especially in Wisconsin. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Wisconsin law that requires sex offenders to wear GPS trackers for the REST OF THEIR LIVES. Its probably good that people probably don't wear shorts in Wisconsin half the year anyway. We spent a fair amount of time discussing whether these GPS trackers constitute a search under the 4th amendment, and we all seemed to be in agreement that it does.

We spent the rest of Tuesday and all of the Thursday discussing the merits of ALPR technology. I found it interesting that banks and repossession companies commonly use ALPR to locate cars that belong to people who have defaulted on their loan. More notably, this technology is used by law enforcement to locate fugitives and kidnapping victims. We also discussed how this technology can be invasive insofar it can disclose the various locations a person visits, including medical providers and private businesses, which in turn can disclose intimate facts about an individual.We also discussed Utah's law that regulates the use of ALPR. Utah's law only limits the manner in which the government may use ALPR, it does not apply to private citizens. Utah's law only allows the government to use ALPR to promote public safety, in connection with a criminal investigation, for toll collections, and to enforce traffic laws. The government may only obtain ALPR records from a private entity if that entity only retains its ALPR data for less than 90 days. Professor Dryer pointed out that no private entity keeps this data for less than 90 days. I think we all agreed that regulations need to be adopted to circumscribe the use of ALPR by private parties.