Do All LPR Cameras Send Plate Data to the Government like Flock Cameras?

A customer recently watched our License Plate Capture Works Great with AI Security Camera video and asked this question about if our Viewtron LPR camera sends license plate data to the government, like Flock cameras do. This was his question:

“I already worry about the government tracking and recording me. Now I have to worry about private citizens doing it too? What is the point of a private homeowner recording license plates to a security system from traffic from down the street? Do all LPR cameras send license plate data to the government like flock cameras do?”

A lot of US citizens and citizens of other countries share this privacy concern, so I wanted to answer it here in detail.

1. Why do homeowners and businesses record license plates?
2. Where is the license plate data stored?
3. How long is the plate video and data kept?
4. How is Viewtron LPR different from Flock cameras?

Why Homeowners and Businesses Record License Plates

The homeowners and businesses that buy LPR (license plate recognition) camera systems from us typically want to record license plates clearly in case a crime happens on or near their property. If something does happen, they can identify the vehicles that were involved.

The typical homeowner or business owner does not care about someone driving down the street. They only care about that car if the person in it commits a crime.

Where the License Plate Data Is Stored

The plate video and data are stored locally on the hard drive of the owner’s Viewtron NVR (network video recorder). The recorded video footage and the license plate data stay on that NVR and local hard drive only. The license plate is NOT sent to any centralized government database in any way.

Our system does not rely on any centralized cloud service for the license plate identification or for video storage. It is a closed loop system. When the owner views their cameras remotely from the mobile app or the VMS software for Mac and Windows PCs, the app connects straight to their own NVR. The video is not stored in the cloud.

How Long the Plate Video and Data Are Kept

If no crime happens, the plate video and data just sit on the NVR’s hard drive. When the drive fills up, the NVR automatically overwrites old recordings and recycles that space.

How far back the recordings go depends on the size of the hard drive and the number of cameras recording to it.

How Viewtron LPR is Different from Flock Cameras?

Our system is not connected to any centralized government system or database, like Flock cameras are. The plate video and data stay with the owner, on the owner’s NVR. Viewtron license plate recognition is the best alternative to a Flock camera for any organization that wants outstanding ALPR software without any data sharing with governments.

If you want to learn more about how our LPR cameras work, you can read about license plate capture vs automatic license plate recognition, or see our review of the Viewtron LPR camera for home use.

LPR Camera Video Demos

You can watch video demos using Viewtron LPR cameras here.

Thanks again for asking. If you have any other questions, you can text or call me at 561-433-8488.