Civil liberties groups are asking Massachusetts lawmakers to limit when police use license plate readers so they can’t be used for surveillance, dragnet monitoring or other civil rights harms. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said data collected from plate readers can be used to pry into people’s private lives. Law enforcement groups say an outright ban on plate reading technology would compromise their work, including crucial cases like AMBER Alerts.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has begun using a new operating system allowing Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) technology to be connected to AMBER Alert activations. NCMEC’s joint effort with Flock Safety will use the company’s machine-learning powered network to help law enforcement to find vehicles wanted during an alert.

The Lake Mills Community Foundation in Wisconsin donated $19,490 for their local police department to buy automated license plate readers. The system will allow the Lake Mills police to identify stolen cars, cars linked to AMBER Alerts, and other crimes. Police are notified when the reader finds a license plate and why the car is wanted.

The Sault, Ontario, Police Department can now scan license plates to spot AMBER Alert suspects and other offenders. The Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) has three cameras placed in a police car that can scan six plates a second. The ALPR contains data provided by the Canadian Police Information Centre. The Ontario Provincial Police have 30 ALPR units and have used them since 2009.