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The use of an AI-powered surveillance program by law enforcement in New York has come under scrutiny in a federal drug trafficking case, bringing questions regarding privacy rights and the legality of such technology to the forefront.
The case revolves around David Zayas, a convicted drug dealer from Massachusetts, who was apprehended during a seemingly routine traffic stop in Westchester County, New York.
According to federal court documents reviewed by Fox Newsl, the AI-powered surveillance program, known as “Rekor Scout,” was employed by Westchester County police to track and analyze license plate data from an extensive network of license plate readers (LPRs).
Through this system, authorities identified a car following a known drug-trafficking route and exhibiting patterns of narcotics trafficking.
It was discovered that Zayas made nine trips between Massachusetts and New York City and its bordering suburbs over a two-year period, during which his movements were meticulously tracked by the surveillance program.
The police, relying on the information gathered by the AI-driven LPRs, eventually pulled him over for minor traffic infractions on March 10, 2022.
Upon searching Zayas’ vehicle, law enforcement officials discovered 112 grams of crack cocaine, a semiautomatic pistol and $34,000 in cash, leading to the subsequent federal drug trafficking case against Zayas.
However, the use of the AI-powered analytic software in this case has raised serious concerns over privacy rights.
Zayas’ lawyer, Ben Gold, exposed the program’s existence and questioned its legality, arguing that the system operates without any judicial oversight or warrants, effectively allowing the government to track the precise location histories of individuals without cause or suspicion.
“During this two-year time period, the government — as was done in this case — can learn, without a warrant, the precise location histories of virtually anyone traveling on major roads in Westchester County,” Gold wrote in a court filing. “The breadth of this LPR system is spectacular and amounts to a warrantless search.
“The search of Mr. Zayas’s location history over a period of two-years represents a search of previously unimaginable proportion that threatens to shatter the ‘degree of privacy against government that existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted,’” Gold continued.
Gold’s motion to suppress evidence shed further light on the extent of the surveillance program’s capabilities.
According to the filing, Westchester County police operate one of the largest automatic number-plate recognition (ALPR) databases in the country as part of its Real Time Crime Center.
The database consists of at least 480 LPRs that scan and record about 16.2 million vehicles each week.
This data is retained for a period of two years, enabling retroactive tracking of people’s movements with a simple search query.
“The breadth and detail of that search is limited only by the number of cameras inputting information into the database and the length of time the data is retained,” Gold argued in the court filing.
The widespread use of ALPR technology and the advanced capabilities of the AI-driven surveillance system have led to a debate on the invasion of privacy and the potential violation of Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Despite Gold’s efforts to uncover the locations of these cameras through public records request, the information was denied, with authorities admitting that the camera locations change frequently. Moreover, it was revealed that the Real Time Crime Center participates in data sharing with other local departments and has access to a national database, further raising concerns about the scope of the surveillance network.
In response to the mounting legal challenges and public outcry, federal prosecutor Damian Williams revealed that both parties are nearing the conclusion of a plea agreement.
Zayas has already pleaded guilty and is currently awaiting sentencing.
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