COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa. (WOWT)- Automated license plate recognition cameras are tracking thousands of vehicles daily across Iowa with little state regulation, according to a new report from the University of Iowa and the ACLU.

The technology has expanded rapidly across the state, with 48 agencies now using ALPR cameras, the ACLU of Iowa study shows. Council Bluffs has 37 cameras scattered throughout the city.

“Over the last couple of years they have just exploded in our state and nationally,” said Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa.

Privacy concerns grow as cameras multiply

The cameras are small enough that drivers likely don’t know they’re passing one, Bettis Austen said. They continuously record license plates of every passing vehicle, helping law enforcement bui

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