Rekor Systems Calls for a National Industry Standard to Preserve the Public-Safety Value of ALPR

Company urges ALPR technology providers, law enforcement agencies, and lawmakers to adopt three pillars: privacy-protected plate data, purpose-based retention, and verifiable video integrity

COLUMBIA, Md., Aug. 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rekor Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: REKR) ("Rekor" or the "Company"), a technology company developing trusted-data, privacy, security, and intelligence solutions for real-world transportation, public-safety, video, and sensor networks, today called on technology providers, law enforcement agencies, lawmakers, civil-rights stakeholders, and standards organizations to consider a common, vendor-neutral framework for the responsible use of automated license plate recognition ("ALPR").

Rekor believes the escalating conflict over ALPR is producing the worst possible outcome: communities are losing trust, law enforcement agencies risk losing an important public-safety tool, lawmakers are being pushed toward all-or-nothing choices, and responsible technology providers are being judged by the market's most controversial practices.

ALPR itself is not new. For years, license plate recognition has supported tolling, parking, transportation operations, stolen-vehicle recovery, missing-person alerts, and other legitimate law-enforcement functions without becoming the center of a national debate. The public-policy problem emerged when localized observations were aggregated into broad, searchable networks and when access, sharing, retention, and evidentiary controls failed to keep pace with the technology's scale.

"The current battle is benefiting no one," said Robert A. Berman, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Rekor Systems. "The public is increasingly concerned that ordinary travel can be reconstructed without suspicion of a crime. Law enforcement is being forced to defend practices it did not always design, and the entire industry risks losing a technology that saves lives, recovers stolen vehicles, and helps officers act when minutes matter. Police officers already have difficult jobs. In turbulent times and amid constrained budgets, we should not take away a proven tool and make their work even harder. We should stop arguing over whether ALPR should exist and establish clear rules for how it must operate."

Rekor proposes that the ALPR industry, public agencies, and policymakers evaluate the following three pillars as the foundation for a Responsible ALPR Standard. The standard would be outcome-based and vendor-neutral: it would not require the use of any company's products, but it would require each system to demonstrate that the protections work.

Pillar One: Authorized Alerting and Cryptographically Protected Non-Hotlist Data

Public-safety ALPR systems should generate real-time alerts only when a plate matches a clearly defined, legally authorized list. Such sources may include appropriate National Crime Information Center (NCIC) vehicle and license-plate data, wanted- or missing-person information associated with a vehicle, Amber and Silver Alerts, stolen-vehicle lists, and vehicles added prospectively pursuant to a lawful court order or other legally authorized process.

When a vehicle does not match an authorized list, its plate information should not remain publicly accessible or available for routine agency searches. It should be immediately protected with strong cryptographic encryption or tokenization, using vendor-controlled keys and a segregated re-identification process designed to prevent ordinary access by agencies, network participants, or vendor personnel.

Simply shortening a general retention period to ten, seven, or three days does not protect the public. Protection comes from immediately anonymizing non-hotlist plate data using strong cryptography so it cannot be routinely searched, with re-identification limited to a valid warrant or court order.

Re-identification of protected non-hotlist data should occur only when the technology provider receives and validates a lawful warrant or court order specifying the information sought. Every re-identification request and action should be logged, auditable, limited to the scope of the order, and subject to published controls. There should be no bulk unlocking, informal access, fishing expeditions, or retrospective searches simply because the data exists.

"A plate belonging to an ordinary driver should not become an open government record simply because the vehicle passed a camera," Berman said. "The system may need to compare that plate against an authorized list, but a non-match should immediately become cryptographically protected. If investigators later establish probable cause, the vendor can respond to a valid warrant through a controlled and auditable process. Until then, neither the agency nor the network should be able to reconstruct that person's movements."

Pillar Two: Purpose- and Severity-Based Retention

Identifiable records associated with a legitimate hotlist match should not all be retained for the same fixed period. Retention should be tied to lawful purpose, the severity of the underlying reason for the alert, investigatory relevance, evidentiary requirements, and clearly stated public policy. A record connected to an Amber Alert, a violent felony, or a continuing threat may justify different treatment than a minor, administrative, stale, or quickly resolved alert.

Responsible ALPR systems should support automatic expiration, differentiated retention schedules, documented legal holds, complete access logs, and regular audits. Agencies should set their own policies within applicable law. They should not share data across jurisdictions or make it available to third parties without explicit authorization, a defined public-safety purpose, and enforceable safeguards.

Pillar Three: Verifiable Video Integrity from the Moment of Capture

ALPR decisions can lead to vehicle stops, arrests, prosecutions, civil claims, and courtroom evidence. Protecting the privacy of plate data is only part of the responsibility. The underlying video or image supporting an alert must also be trustworthy. In an era of artificial intelligence, deepfakes, easy editing, and contested digital evidence, agencies and the public should be able to determine whether media has been altered, truncated, substituted, or spliced after capture.

Rekor believes responsible ALPR systems should cryptographically authenticate video at or as close as possible to the point of capture and permit independent validation later. The supporting media should carry a tamper-evident record that can be verified when it is used in an investigation, claim, proceeding, or trial, regardless of which provider supplied the system.

"Privacy without evidentiary integrity is incomplete, and evidentiary integrity without privacy is equally incomplete," Berman added. "The public should not have to choose between effective law enforcement and a surveillance state. Technology can protect the identities of ordinary drivers, preserve properly authorized alerts based on their seriousness, and prove that the supporting video is authentic. Those three protections belong together."

A Practical Call to the Industry and Policymakers

Rekor calls on ALPR technology providers to publish clear answers on alert sources, non-hotlist protection, key custody, re-identification procedures, retention, sharing, access auditing, and media authentication. It calls on law enforcement agencies to include these protections in procurement requirements and operating policies. It calls on lawmakers to regulate for measurable outcomes rather than prohibit an entire category of technology because some deployments have outgrown their safeguards.

The framework also recognizes an important distinction between retrospective and prospective authority. A valid warrant or court order may permit a provider to re-identify narrowly specified protected historical data within the order's scope. It may also authorize prospective monitoring by placing a vehicle on an approved investigative list. Neither authority should create general access to the movements of people who are not relevant to the investigation.

Rekor believes the same principles can support public safety and restore public confidence: alerts limited to authorized needs; strong cryptographic protection for all other data; retention based on purpose and severity; transparent, auditable access; customer control; and video that can prove its own integrity.

"This should not be a proprietary debate," Berman said. "If the industry agrees on the minimum protection the public deserves, providers can then compete on the merits of their technology, performance, and value. ALPR is too important to eliminate and too powerful to operate without enforceable limits. A responsible national standard is how we preserve the tool, protect civil liberties, and rebuild trust."

About Rekor Systems, Inc.

Rekor Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: REKR) is a technology company developing trusted data, privacy, security, and intelligence solutions for real-world transportation, public safety, video, and sensor networks. Rekor's advanced computer vision, machine learning, data security, and media authentication platforms help government agencies, public-safety organizations, transportation authorities, commercial customers, and technology partners transform visual, roadway, and sensor data into trusted, actionable intelligence. Rekor's solutions are designed to support safer, more efficient mobility, stronger public-safety outcomes, privacy-conscious data practices, operational transparency, and evidentiary integrity.

To learn more, visit Rekor.ai.

Media & Investor Relations Contact

Charles Degliomini
Executive Vice President
Rekor Systems, Inc.
cdegliomini@rekor.ai

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