About Readback

In aviation, a readback is repeating a transmission back to prove you received it correctly. This site reads back to the public what the state collects about them: where the licence plate readers are, what the hardware and software can actually do, what rules govern them — and what the documents say when we ask.

The method: facts only

Every claim on this site is backed by a primary source — certification filings, vendor datasheets and marketing, statutes, tribunal decisions, audits, peer-reviewed studies, or on-the-record reporting. Where we analyze rather than report, the analysis is explicitly marked, and it extends only capabilities the vendors document themselves. Where something is unverified, we either say so or don't publish it. The entire research base — every source behind every page — is open on GitHub.

What this site is not

Readback is not anti-police, and it does not claim anyone is breaking the rules. Its core observation is narrower and better documented: on these systems, nearly every safeguard is a configuration setting — retention, sharing, permissions — and no one outside each police service checks what the settings are. Toll cameras and border readers are mapped but shown separately, because a toll you pay and a border you cross are not the same as a dragnet on your commute.

Data & licensing

Camera locations come from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) and are re-published under the same licence. Fleet, policy, and hardware data are compiled from the public record with citations throughout. Corrections: if anything on this site is wrong, tell us — we fix fast and log the change publicly in the repository history.

Who runs this

Readback is built and maintained by Mike Shoss, drawing on professional experience building AI systems — which is the lens behind the marked analysis sections. It is independent: no funding from, and no affiliation with, any vendor, police service, or political organization.

Contact

themiltonrecord@gmail.com — tips, corrections, camera reports, FOI results from your region, and media inquiries all welcome. To add a camera to the map, the best route is tagging it in OpenStreetMap (man_made=surveillance + surveillance:type=ALPR) — that way every project built on the shared data benefits, not just this one.