Rekor CEO Robert Berman on AI, License Plate Readers & Your Privacy
The short version: A retired-cops podcast lets Rekor's CEO frame ALPR surveillance as a safety win, with little pushback on data retention, accuracy, or who else gets access.
Our Take
When the company selling the cameras gets to set the terms of the conversation, don't expect hard questions about retention windows, data-sharing agreements, or what happens when a misread plate sends an armed response to the wrong driveway. That's the dynamic in this sit-down between New Yorks Finest: Retired & Unfiltered Podcast and Rekor CEO Robert Berman — a friendly, industry-framed chat about AI and license plate readers that credit to the hosts for getting him on the record, even if the format leans soft.
Berman's pitch is the one we hear from every ALPR vendor: public safety first, privacy concerns are overblown, trust us. What's missing, as usual, is any real accounting of how long this data sits in a database, which agencies and private actors can query it, and how a network built for finding stolen cars quietly becomes a tool for tracking anyone's daily movements. 'AI' and 'safety' are doing a lot of marketing work here to paper over a surveillance infrastructure most drivers never agreed to.
If you want to see how far this network already reaches in your own neighborhood, check our camera map — and if you're ready to push back on a local deployment, our take-action page has the tools to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of NEW YORKS FINEST: RETIRED & UNFILTERED PODCAST, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.