panopti.ca
An open-source project mapping automatic licence plate readers (ALPRs) across Canada.
What are ALPRs
An automatic licence plate reader (ALPR or LPR) is an AI-powered camera that photographs every vehicle that passes and logs the details — the plate, the location, and the exact time. Many also capture a car's make, model, and colour, plus distinguishing features like dents, roof racks, or bumper stickers, turning each vehicle into a set of searchable data points.
Every plate gets recorded, whether or not the driver is suspected of anything. Marketed as essential crime-fighting tools, these cameras instead build a running log of where ordinary people go — not just those under investigation.
Example of an annotated licence plate reader photo showing captured vehicle details
The Dangers of ALPRs
ALPRs are a serious risk to your privacy and civil liberties. These systems continuously record your movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. Your driving history is rarely confined to the town or city where the cameras are installed — it is often shared with many other agencies, and in some cases across the border with U.S. law enforcement. Once the data leaves your community, you have little control over how it's used.
Learn about ALPRsWho makes these cameras?
In Canada, the most commonly mapped ALPR systems come from Genetec, a Montréal-based company, alongside Flock Safety — a major U.S. vendor now expanding into Canada. Captured vehicle data is uploaded to the vendor's cloud system, where participating agencies can search and share information across jurisdictions.
These are not the only ALPR vendors, and others follow similar practices. See this list of common ALPR vendors.
Learn more