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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026
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deflock.me
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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car’s location, date, and time. They also capture your car’s make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points. These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles—regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. While these systems can be useful for tracking stolen cars or wanted individuals, they are mostly used to track the movements of innocent people.
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This is good they are found. What is concerning is why number is so high in the first place. Europe estimates are between 170 to 300 thousands
It's because a missing child is not the same as an abducted child.
If you don't know where your child is, you tell the police. They radio the miscellaneous patrol cars and they inevitably find the six year old trying to walk somewhere silly within a few hours.
That's a missing person report.
Divorce going poorly. One parent thinks the other shouldn't get any custody. So they pick the kid up from school when it's not their turn and go to their parents house. That's a missing person and child abduction.
Basically, it's a category error. We're All tracking the same things, but our huge category has the same name as their narrow one.
I think that’s because Americans are more likely to call the cops in this situation
Apparently 90% of missing children are runaways. Maybe that is more common in the US or maybe it's just differences in counting (for example some countries might count 16 or 17 year olds as adults for these purposes).
It's cataloging differences. The EU number is by outcome, and the US is by how the report started.
The US is saying there were 400k times someone was concerned about not knowing where a kid was for any reason. For the same "stereotyped kidnapping" category the US is roughly the same, with 50-400 per year depending on how you count them.
More than ideal but not a public policy crisis.