City marshals in New Haven, Conn., are hailing the success of a new mobile system allowing them to collect overdue car taxes by scanning a license plate with an infrared camera and matching it to a database on a laptop computer.
The BootFinder, designed originally for police to identify stolen cars, has some privacy advocates worried, however, especially when citizens suddenly find their cars towed away after an apparent match is made.
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New Haven and Arlington County, Virginia, are the only jurisdictions using it, replacing a system in which officials collected taxes only through mailed notices and phone calls.
When Sam Byers had his car towed right out of his driveway, he told the Associated Press, "That's like kidnapping your car."
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The 58-year-old truck driver lined up at the New Haven tax collector's office with many others to make payments so they can get their vehicles back.
Since the program began in September, New Haven officials say they have towed about 1,800 cars and recovered more than $1 million in delinquent taxes, the AP said.
Some people have had cars removed from a Wal-Mart parking lot.
New Haven's tax collector, C.J. Cuticello, said BootFinder has increased the tax collection rate from 80 percent to 95 percent.
"I think the results are fantastic," he told the AP. "We're going to continue it until we exhaust every vehicle in New Haven."
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Arlington County has had similar success, but does not tow away vehicles.
Cedric Laurant, policy counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, is worried about the BootFinder creating a "slippery slope" in which the technology could be used to enforce any type of law that requires people to file their taxes.
The privacy advocates also worry about "function creep" as technology intended for one purpose evolves into other uses. In fact, the BootFinder's manufacturer, G2 Tactics, is working on a similar device that could gain access to the National Crime Information Center database.
Laurent contends towing a vehicle is disproportionate punishment for relatively small tax bills.
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The AP noted Kathy Martone of New Haven was doing her dishes one night last week when the city nabbed her Plymouth Neon, for which she owed $85 in taxes.
Vehicle owners say they are given little warning, but New Haven officials contend the delinquent taxpayers get five notices and warnings.
WTNH in New Haven said other cities planning to use the device already are seeing action from taxpayers fearful they could lose their car.
Bridgeport, Conn., which plans to get the BootFinder April 1, says it has more than 120,000 car owners who haven't paid their taxes, totaling more than $20 million.
