Florida man claims license-plate readers let cops know your 'daily routine' in suit

A new lawsuit claims a Florida city’s use of license-plate readers is unconstitutional. (miamibeachfl.gov)

A Florida man earlier this month filed a lawsuit against his city and its law enforcement, claiming that its use of license-plate-reading technology is unconstitutional, The Miami New Times reported.

Raul Mas Canosa, a Coral Gables resident, claimed in a lawsuit filed Oct. 5 that Coral Gables operates 30 cameras around the city and shares its data with at least 80 law enforcement agencies.

"They pretty much know your daily routine every single day," Mas Canosa told The Miami Herald. “I think they have a legitimate law enforcement purpose but what is troubling is what are the parameters for this?”

Coral Gables will have scanned more than 30 million license plates by the end of the year, despite having a population of 50,000, according to The New Times.

Caleb Kruckenberg, Mas Canosa's attorney, said Florida law allows city and state government to track and store driver’s information for up to three years. He compared the technology devices to being followed around by police “24 hours a day, anywhere your car goes.”

“It’s church, it’s the doctor, it’s how often you go to the liquor store, anything that you might think is private, and suddenly the police can just pull it up whenever they want to,” he said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not respond to The New Times’ request for comment. The city reportedly received its complaint on Friday.

Mas Canosa is the youngest brother of Jorge Mas Canosa, a Miami-based Cuban exile and political activist who died in November 1997.

Coral Gables is about a 30-minutes’ drive west of Miami.