Connecticut Home Depot and Lowe's stores add license plate cameras

Shoppers pulling into some Home Depot and Lowe's stores in Connecticut now face automated license plate readers that photograph their vehicles and record plate numbers, time and location.

The systems, supplied by Flock Safety, capture license plates along with vehicle make, model and color. The company says its cameras do not use facial recognition. More than two dozen police departments in the state already operate similar readers on public roads.

Home Depot and Lowe's say the cameras are meant to deter theft and protect customers and employees. A Home Depot spokesperson told CyberGuy the company has used parking-lot cameras for years and does not grant federal law enforcement access to its license plate readers. Lowe's privacy policy states that data collected through the readers may be used for security, theft prevention, fraud detection and parking enforcement.

Police officials say they can request data from the store cameras. Some departments have signed agreements that give them automatic or continuous access to certain locations. Flock Safety says data sharing is turned off by default and that every search is logged in an audit trail.

Connecticut recently passed rules that limit how police can share plate data with out-of-state agencies, set retention periods and bar use of the systems for immigration enforcement. The law applies to public agencies and does not cover private companies that install the cameras on their own property.

Shoppers can check for posted signs at store entrances, read the retailers' privacy policies and ask customer service how long data is kept and which agencies may receive it. Flock Safety's default setting deletes data after 30 days, though retailers may choose different periods.

The spread of the cameras has renewed debate over transparency. Retailers and police say the systems help fight theft and solve crimes. Critics say shoppers often have little notice that their movements are being recorded and stored in databases that law enforcement can search.