Is Border Patrol using license plate cameras to monitor drivers in Bay Area? Here's what we know

"The U.S Border Patrol has been monitoring drivers nationwide with license plate reading cameras as part of a secretive program that has led to arrests and detentions, according to an investigation by the Associated Press. In the Bay Area, hundreds of license plate reader cameras scan and store this information in real-time. The concern is who has access to this data and whether any laws are being violated."

"RELATED: Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns "This is massive government overreach that puts every American under warrantless mass surveillance," said Josh Richman, communications director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. An Associated Press investigation revealed details of how the U.S. Border Patrol surveillance program works, pointing to the use of license plate readers to identify and detain drivers with "suspicious" travel patterns."

"Just this week, Oakland councilmembers voted against expanding their existing camera system, citing these exact privacy concerns. "I'm really struggling with, potentially maybe, a correlation between cameras and a very real possibility of our data falling into the hands of bad actors that have a track record of working with the agencies that are, in contradiction with Oakland's values. We have a sanctuary city," said Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife."

The U.S. Border Patrol has extended surveillance from national borders into American cities using license plate reader cameras that scan and store vehicle information in real time. The program has produced arrests and detentions by identifying drivers with "suspicious" travel patterns. Civil liberties advocates describe the effort as warrantless mass surveillance that enables tracking of any driver. Hundreds of cameras operate across Bay Area cities including San Francisco, Berkeley, and Piedmont. Local officials raised privacy and sanctuary-city concerns, and Oakland councilmembers recently voted against expanding a camera system over fears of data access and misuse.

Read at ABC7 San Francisco