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ORWELL INDEX

Who runs license plate readers in Montgomery County?

On the map

0
Verified by us
345
Community-reported

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

What we do not know

Montgomery County Sheriff, Constable Precinct 4 and Constable Precinct 5

  • How many plate readers Montgomery County agencies operate today, fixed and in-car, and where the fixed ones stand.
  • How long plate reads are kept, and which agencies can search them.
  • Whether the Sheriff's Office or any constable has a written plate reader policy.
  • What the two Multiple Use Agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation actually cover.
  • Whether the county's Axon body camera and in-car video contract includes plate reader licenses, as an Axon contract did in two other Texas counties.
  • What Constable Precinct 5's access to the state plate reader database allows, and how often it is used.

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 Montgomery County and how public comment works there.

How to show up in Montgomery 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 ↗