Appleton could take a significant step toward restricting automatic license plate reader technology, with the Common Council set to consider a resolution that would prohibit the citys acquisition, installation, operation, use or funding of the systems, with limited exceptions.Automatic license plate readers, commonly called ALPRs, capture images of vehicle license plates and convert them into computer-readable data.The technology has been at the center of months of debate in the Fox Cities, with residents researching the systems, speaking at public meetings and asking local officials to place restrictions on how they can be used.Ban it. Just ban it all, one Appleton resident told city leaders. Let's not have to show up here every time there's a new mass surveillance product.Alderperson Adrian Stancil-Martin, who submitted the latest resolution, said the push is coming from residents.This is something the public has been asking of us, Stancil-Martin said.Community organizer Cari Tetzlaff has also pushed city leaders to act.The time to ban is now. There is no reason to hold this resolution up, Tetzlaff said.Watch the broadcast story here: Appleton to decide on restricting license plate reader technologyWhat would Appleton's resolution do?The proposal goes beyond prohibiting one particular brand or system. It says Appleton would prohibit the acquisition, installation, operation, use or funding of ALPRs within its jurisdiction, subject to several specific exceptions.Those exceptions would allow ALPRs to be used for parking enforcement; to control access to restricted, nonpublic areas with clearly marked boundaries and specific access points; and at entrances or exits to weigh stations, where government agencies could use them for commercial vehicle regulation.The resolution lays out several reasons for the proposed restrictions, including concerns about privacy, civil liberties, potential misuse, public records and the ability of interconnected ALPR systems to allow law enforcement agencies to investigate or monitor vehicles beyond the jurisdiction where an incident occurred.Alderperson Denise Fenton said her own position on the technology has shifted.I've moved from saying we need guardrails to thinking we in the city do not need this ALPR technology, Fenton said.Oshkosh considers similar restrictionsAppleton isn't the only nearby city debating the technology.The Oshkosh Common Council tabled its own ALPR resolution Tuesday after council members discussed making its restrictions stronger. Some members specifically pointed to Appleton's proposal as language that could be incorporated into a revised Oshkosh resolution.The ALPR conversation isn't overThe resolution coming before Appleton's Common Council focuses on restricting the city's use of ALPR technology.Separately, Appleton has been considering broader oversight and accountability standards surrounding ALPRs and other mass-surveillance technologies.The Common Council is expected to consider the latest ALPR resolution Wednesday, Oct. 21. ...read more read less