Cops Want to Turn Your Kid’s School Bus Into a Surveillance Tool

Citizens have begun to take action against Flock Safety, a company best known for its AI-powered Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR). Now they have got another company that they can add to their enemies list. According to a report by 404 Media, a company called BusPatrol has installed cameras on school buses across the country and plans to let law enforcement use them to scan license plates.

It’s possible that the “letting law enforcement use them” part isn’t the first piece of information that gave you pause. Maybe it’s the fact that a company is installing AI-powered cameras in school buses. This is the entire functioning of Bus Patrol. The company claims to have installed cameras in more than 40,000 buses in 24 states and is “protecting” (read: monitoring) more than two million students across the country. The marketing for the technology is that it is designed to help catch “stop arm” violators – people who fly off the bus when a “stop” sign is deployed so that children can safely get off the bus. It records the violation and identifies the license plate number, sends it to law enforcement, and the police issue fines.

Simple enough – although the idea that it works is quite questionable, according to a Bloomberg investigation that failed to find a meaningful reduction in collisions near BusPatrol-equipped buses. Apparently, this alone is not enough to become a standalone business model. According to 404 Media, the company will apparently expand its capabilities from identifying people who ignore bus “stop” signs to recording all license plates that go past its cameras, making the bus a mobile surveillance system. The information on that plate will be shared with law enforcement.

According to the report, BusPatrol plans to take photos of every car the bus passes, record the license plate and GPS location of the vehicle at the time the photo was taken, and then allow law enforcement access to that information. According to 404 Media, that information can be obtained without a warrant, effectively creating a lawless surveillance tool.

One does not need to look far to see how such a system can be abused. Flock safety cameras have become notorious for excessive use by law enforcement, from local police sharing information from the cameras with ICE to law enforcement in Texas using the cameras to try to track down a woman who had an abortion. Now supercharge it, as the camera is constantly rolling, and add the security of being marketed as a safety device for child safety and you have BusPatrol.

Per 404 Media, the company is currently testing this broader monitoring effort on only a few buses, but plans to roll it out more widely in the near future. So keep an eye on the buses because soon they will be tracking you.