Senator Demands Transparency Over Federal License Plate Surveillance

Sen. Ron Wyden is demanding the White House release a commissioned report regarding the privacy practices of federal surveillance programs, according to 404 Media. The request follows a 404 Media investigation into the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, which mirrors license plate reader data from various cities and towns onto federal databases.

Reporting from 404 Media indicates that HIDTA has established a system to acquire license plate data from vendors including Motorola, Axon, and Flock. The HIDTA program is managed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), an entity 404 Media notes previously operated a secretive cell phone surveillance project known as Hemisphere.

In a letter addressed to ONDCP Director Sara Carter, Wyden highlighted that the nonprofit contractor MITRE completed a privacy review of HIDTA's surveillance programs—including both the ALPR program and the cell phone data collection project—in 2024. Wyden stated that the ONDCP has refused to provide this report to his office and has not released it to the public. The Senator is now urging the release of that MITRE study along with a separate analysis concerning automated license plate reader systems and practices, citing a lack of transparency surrounding these HIDTA-funded operations.