So it would be fine to have agents physically follow welfare fraudsters and photograph them engaging in activities they say they are unable to do, to disprove disability?
But it's not ok to do the same thing using license plate data.
I say use whatever tools you have at your disposal.
The problem is, they didn't follow the rules for the tool, thus they're in violation. That's what most people should have a problem with.
The tool is there, it's available. To stop abuse, they enacted rules for it's usage. Simple rules like submitting a reason for the query within an allotted time, public notifications, and auditing. These were likely agreed upon for the system to be turned on (as a compromise to prevent abuse / prevent any privacy lawsuits).
It's sorta like doing a warrantless search to aid in your investigation. Sure, you found the murder weapon, but it was still an unlawful search. This system doesn't need a warrant, but it has procedures. If it's going to abused, maybe the data needs to be locked up so that investigators are forced to follow them (e.g. require a warrant).
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