LPR Privacy Policy

License Plate Recognition System Data Collection and Privacy Policy

Purpose:

This Operating Policy and Procedure provides guidelines for the collection, retention and privacy of license plate recognition data at UNC Charlotte (“University”).

Review:

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Assistant Director of Parking and Transportation Services with any revisions being sent to the Director of Parking and Transportation Services, Associate Vice Chancellor of Business Services and the Office of Legal Affairs.

Policy/Procedure

Parking and Transportation Services (“PaTS”) utilizes license plate recognition hardware and software (“LPR”) for vehicle parking enforcement and access control.

1. Locations

LPR data is collected on University managed or owned streets, parking lots and structures, as well as any location associated with a current university lease, rental or mutual‐aid agreement. PaTS utilizes fixed cameras, as well as a number of mobile vehicle‐mounted systems and/or handheld devices, which are mounted, driven or operated by trained personnel in parking locations throughout the university and associated areas included in this policy. Fixed and mobile camera locations are active 24 hours daily, 7 days per week.

2. Data Collected

The LPR system captures two photos of observed vehicles: (1) a context photo of the vehicle and its immediate surroundings and (2) a photo of the license plate. Typically, these photos are taken from the rear of the vehicle, although there are occasions where a photo is taken from the front of a vehicle backed into a space or standing in a driving aisle. Along with the photographic data, the system also records the global positioning system coordinates and date/time information of the observation. Further software processing of the license plate image generates an alphanumeric version of the license plate number, which is also stored with the record. While no owner or driver information is stored directly with the LPR record, vehicle LPR data is linked to individual patron accounts within the parking management system.

3. Use of Data

The intended use of data collected by the LPR system is for parking access control, parking enforcement and other official university business. LPR data is used to determine a vehicle’s access permissions in a given parking area or controlled access area of campus and associated areas included in this policy and support the issuance of a parking citation, if needed.

4. Data Retention

Data collected by the LPR system not resulting in parking enforcement action or other official university business is retained for 90 days. Data resulting in parking enforcement action is retained with the citation record according to established University data retention policies.

5. Access to LPR System

Access to the LPR system is restricted to trained University personnel performing their official University duties. All personnel with access to the system use unique identifiers and passwords to access records and all login activity, record additions, and other activity is logged. Access to the system by others is prohibited.

6. Determining what LPR data we have about your vehicle

University students, faculty, and staff may request a report detailing what, if any, LPR data PaTS has on the vehicle(s) he/she has registered with PaTS. These requests may be made in person by presenting a University‐issued ID. Alternatively, students, faculty, or staff who are registered users of the University’s online parking management system may view this information by logging into their account at: http://mypark.charlotte.edu.

Requests from vehicle owners not affiliated with the University (and who therefore do not have a University‐issued ID or email account) may be made by presenting PaTS with proof of ownership of the vehicle along with a valid photo ID, subject to restrictions imposed by applicable law, including but not limited to FERPA. Such requests, and all other external requests for records, will be handled on a case‐by‐case basis, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs as appropriate.

7. Public Notifications

PaTS will notify the public of its LPR data collection activities and policies by posting a privacy policy on the PaTS website.