Monroe police have been using high-speed cameras to capture license plates in order to log vehicle whereabouts. As of July, the County's database contained 3.7 million records, with the capability to add thousands more each day. The justification for cops having records of the whereabouts of law-abiding citizens is that the vehicles are driven in public and therefore drivers have no expectation of privacy. It's an argument that's at odds with the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling in U.S. v. Jones. In Jones, a GPS tracking case, the court held that individuals do have an expectation of privacy when it comes to their long-term whereabouts, even when using public roads.

If cops are determined to violate this privacy, then at least they could behave more consistently. Last summer, Rochester, N.Y.'s Democrat & Chronicle filed a state open records request — more commonly called a FOIL (for Freedom Of Information Law) — for information on seven of its reporter's license plates as well as two city and county government vehicles. After all, if such information is public when collected, why would it change merely because it's sitting in a database?