{"id":151465,"date":"2026-02-11T11:57:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151465\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:57:20","slug":"where-are-license-plate-readers-online-maps-reveal-hundreds-deployed-in-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/151465\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are license plate readers?\u00a0 Online maps reveal hundreds deployed in Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 As a growing number of municipalities and private entities install automatic license plate readers to help solve crimes, locate missing people and identify trespassers, privacy advocates are creating online maps<\/a> that reveal the devices\u2019 locations.<\/p>\n

License plate readers, or LPRs, photograph and electronically log the tag numbers of passing vehicles while potentially using artificial intelligence to collect additional data like the vehicles\u2019 model or color.<\/p>\n

LPRs manufactured by Flock Safety<\/a> and other companies are usually visible to motorists, but law enforcement agencies are often reluctant to publicize the specific locations of where such devices are deployed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody likes mass surveillance and being watched all the time,\u201d said Ed Vogel, a researcher who works with the privacy organization DeFlock<\/a>. \u201cI think we need to pause and slow down because a lot of this is being adopted very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using public records and crowdsourced reports, DeFlock is building an online map<\/a> that has already documented the locations of nearly 75,000 LPRs across the U.S.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Is LPR data public record? Here\u2019s what Florida law says]<\/p>\n

The DeFlock map shows hundreds of LPRs in Central Florida communities like Orlando, Titusville, Sanford and Ocala.<\/p>\n

While most of the devices were purchased by government and law enforcement agencies, private companies like retailers and apartment complexes also own LPRs. <\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s Home Improvement uses the technology for security, fraud prevention and asset-protection purposes but will also share data with law enforcement solely in connection with criminal investigations, according to the company\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News 6 independently verified the locations of dozens of cameras plotted on the DeFlock map, including several located in Lake County.<\/p>\n

The Mount Dora Police Department told News 6 it uses LPR technology to assist with criminal investigations, locate stolen vehicles, and support efforts to identify missing or endangered people.<\/p>\n

Other Central Florida law enforcement agencies have previously cited similar reasons for purchasing LPRs.<\/p>\n

When 13-year-old Madeline Soto<\/a> was first reported missing in 2024, Kissimmee Police used LPRs to prove her mother\u2019s boyfriend lied about driving the teen to school that morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Why did Stephan Sterns make a 300-mile trip while investigators searched for Madeline Soto?]<\/p>\n

Instead, the LPR data revealed that Stephan Sterns, who was later convicted of raping and murdering Soto, drove his car in the opposite direction of the school. <\/p>\n

Information from LPRs and other traffic cameras helped search teams successfully narrow down the location where Soto\u2019s body was found, court records show.<\/p>\n

\u201cLPRs are not used to monitor law-abiding citizens or track individuals\u2019 daily activities,\u201d the Mount Dora Police Department said in a statement. \u201cThe technology captures license plate data visible from public roadways and is used in accordance with Florida law, departmental policy, and established data retention and access controls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mount Dora police believe discussions about the placement, usage or operational aspects of public safety tools like LPRs could compromise law enforcement strategies and effectiveness.<\/p>\n

But Vogel thinks citizens have a right to know where LPRs have been deployed and how governments use them. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you really understand their full capabilities, and how much data they\u2019re collecting, who has access to that data, I think it raises a lot of concerns,\u201d said Vogel. \u201cThere\u2019s very little democratic conversation happening regarding their use, their adoption, and why the police even need them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 As a growing number of municipalities and private entities install automatic license plate readers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,2174,73123,3685,4443,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-151465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-lake-county","12":"tag-madeline-soto","13":"tag-mount-dora","14":"tag-tech","15":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}