CBP is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with suspicious travel patterns

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Experiences of Stops and Searches

  • Multiple commenters describe being stopped on highways with thin or fabricated pretexts (tint, “driving exactly the speed limit,” minor equipment issues), then subjected to intensive searches, including roadside disassembly of vehicles and hours-long detentions, often with no charges.
  • Some recount CBP harassment at actual borders versus never being stopped at interior checkpoints despite frequent border-area travel, which they find more disturbing—suggesting either very targeted surveillance or arbitrary enforcement.
  • Others note that many officers can, and are trained to, “find something” on virtually any driver within minutes, making selective enforcement easy and bias-prone.

License Plates, ALPR, and Data Markets

  • Strong concern that automated license plate readers (ALPRs) plus long-term retention create a de facto mass location-tracking system, seen as incompatible with the spirit—if not yet the letter—of the Fourth Amendment.
  • Discussion of companies like Flock and DRN that hoover up plate data (fixed cameras, tow trucks, gig drivers) and sell it to police, repo firms, and sometimes private buyers. Some mention creative uses (catching murders, stolen cars), but many see the societal tradeoff as unacceptable.
  • Disagreement over where the real problem lies: plates themselves vs. bulk, aggregated, queryable databases. Several argue aggregation for commercial sale should be outright banned or heavily regulated (GDPR-style), with access only via warrants.
  • Others note even without plates, higher-res imaging and analytics (vehicle “fingerprints,” facial recognition, TPMS IDs) can still track people, so plates are just the easiest vector.

Fourth Amendment, Suspicion, and Border Powers

  • Many say “suspicious travel patterns” are not a crime and cannot justify detention; in practice, police and CBP generate parallel pretexts (traffic infractions) and only articulate “reasonable suspicion” later in court, if ever.
  • The 100‑mile “border zone” is hotly debated. Some treat it as a quasi “Constitution‑free zone” where suspicionless stops/searches are normalized; others cite case law and ACLU updates arguing that full suspension of rights there is an exaggeration, though abuses are real.
  • There’s frustration that illegal or abusive stops rarely lead to consequences: victims often get no day in court, settlements (when they happen) are paid by taxpayers, and qualified immunity plus broad exceptions (Patriot Act, border search doctrine) insulate agencies.

Phones, Cars, and Other Sensors

  • Several argue license plates are almost secondary: modern cars log GPS, infotainment systems are subpoenaed, phones are continuously tracked and data is purchased from brokers, making ALPR just one layer in a dense surveillance mesh.
  • Others push back that you can at least leave a phone at home; you cannot realistically opt out of plates if you drive.

Politics and Institutional Drift

  • Many see this as part of a long bipartisan expansion of the surveillance state (War on Drugs, War on Terror, Patriot Act, DEA and CBP programs), even if current political support clusters on the right under “border security.”
  • There is tension between “small government” rhetoric and enthusiastic backing of expansive CBP/ICE powers; some conclude the real through‑line is control, not limited government.

Proposed Reforms and Countermeasures

  • Legal ideas: require contemporaneous, recorded articulations of suspicion; hard time limits on stops; warrant requirements and strict logging for all ALPR queries; publish hit rates for officers and K‑9s; grant standing and damages for fruitless invasive stops.
  • Structural ideas: outlaw commercial sale of location-linked plate data; treat ALPR feeds as public records to raise compliance costs; restrict CBP to true border contexts.
  • Personal responses range from “drive and live below the radar” to plate covers and car mods (often illegal), to simply avoiding car travel where possible.