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ORWELL INDEX

Who runs license plate readers in Clearwater County?

On the map

0
Verified by us
5
Community-reported

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.

What we do not know

Clearwater County's plate readers

  • Which Clearwater County agency operates these readers, and when did the Board of County Commissioners approve them?
  • What did they cost, who sold them, and for how long?
  • How many are there, and where do they stand? Volunteers have mapped five. No agency has published a count.
  • Is there a written policy, and what does it say about who may run a search and why?
  • What do the semiannual audits Idaho law requires show, and has anyone outside the office seen one?
  • Which other agencies and which states can search Clearwater County's plate reads?

What license plate readers are

An automated license plate reader photographs every passing vehicle and records the plate, the time and the place. It does not watch suspects. It logs everyone, and the record is usually kept on a vendor’s servers.

How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →

What you can do

Civic action

Show up

This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Clearwater County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Clearwater County →

Personal protection

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense ↗