Major retailers such as The Home Depot and Lowe’s are turning to new technology to reduce theft and improve public safety.
At a Lowe’s store in Newington, an automated license plate reader is mounted between trees near the entrance. According to the company’s website, the camera “automatically captures images of vehicles and their license plates, along with the date, time, and general location.”
Retail theft continues to challenge stores like these. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Montville police shared photos of people accused of stealing $1,732.82 worth of merchandise from Home Depot. Last December, authorities also dismantled a Home Depot theft ring involving 13 suspects across nine states, including Connecticut.
Kimberly Przeszlowki said retailers using automated license plate readers, commonly known as ALPRs, raise privacy concerns.
“They’re not held to the same standards as law enforcement,” she said. “The legal frameworks differ quite a bit, when it comes to just oversight mechanisms, accountability, data retention.”
Lowe’s states on its website that it “only discloses your personal information if required by law or legal process.” The company also says it does “not sell ALPR information,” and only shares the data with its service provider and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Home Depot’s privacy policy is similar, saying it does not sell or share information to a third party.
The stores’ websites do not identify which company supplies the cameras, but Flock Safety, a leading manufacturer of the devices, said only the organization operating the cameras can access the data.
On Monday, Ned Lamont signed a bill establishing regulations for license plate readers, including restrictions on how long collected data can be retained.