US Border Patrol Tracking People As They Drive Around New York

People all over the Empire State have been questioning local, county, and state officials about the implementation of traffic cameras and automated license plate readers, and how they use the data that is collected about New Yorkers. There are thousands of cameras all over the state that track your vehicle and log its location in a database that can be searched.

Local and state police say it's used strictly for crime fighting and investigative reasons only, while civil liberty advocates claim it is a gross misuse of governmental power that infringes on the rights of citizens to travel freely around America.

As people and local governments try to figure out what to do, we're learning more about a program that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security, is using to do even more surveillance of people in the nation.

US Border Patrol Tracking People As They Drive Around New York

According to the Associated Press, the US Border Patrol has been keeping track of millions of Americans as they drive around the country using a secret program. As the AP has reported, the US Border Patrol is using an AI-driven predictive intelligence program to analyze driving patterns to find suspicious behavior.

When a car or truck is deemed suspicious, local police are then used to pull the vehicle over under some other pretext and then seek to search the car and/or take the driver into custody.

KEEP READING: Are The Days Numbered For The License Plate Cameras In Western New York?

While the US Border Patrol has been using this program around the nation, those who live in communities along international borders and ports should be especially concerned due to the higher prevalence of US Customs and Border Protection agents in the area. The ALCU warns that agencies develop reports on the daily routine of people called a "pattern of life," and the red flag can be raised in a police agency when someone deviates from their normal patterns.

In places like Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and others that have multiple international entry points, this is very concerning, and it makes you question do we truly live in a free country.