LPR Data Collection and Privacy

Rules and Regulations: 

  •  The Parking Office utilizes license plate recognition hardware and software (“LPR”) for vehicle parking and parking access control 

Locations: 

  • LPR data is collected on college managed parking lots and structures. The Parking Office utilizes a mobile vehicle-mounted system and handheld devices which are driven or operated by trained personnel in parking locations throughout the college. This vehicle is deployed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  

Data Collection: 

  • The LPR system captures two photos of the vehicles:  
    • A context photo of the vehicle and its immediate surroundings 
    • A photo of the license plate 
  •  These photos are taken from the rear of the vehicle, and/or the front of a vehicle backed into a space or standing in a driving aisle. The photos are not of a resolution that allows identification of the vehicle occupants if they are present. Along with the photographic data, the system also records the global positional 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 with the LPR record, vehicle LPR data is linked to individual patron accounts within the parking management system.  

 Use of Data: 

  •  The intended use of data collected by the LPR system is for parking access control and parking enforcement. 
  •  LPR data is used to determine a vehicle’s access permissions in a given parking area or controlled access area of campus and support the issuance of a parking citation if needed 
  •  The data is also used by Campus Safety and the Colorado Springs Police Department in conducting ongoing criminal investigations and investigations of complaints. They may utilize LPR data with active connections to state and federal sponsored lists containing stolen vehicle, wanted person and missing person information. Any use of the data for purposes outside of these stated purposes must be detailed and approved in writing through administrative channels by the Director of Campus Safety. 

Data Retention: 

  •  Data collected by the LPR system not resulting in parking enforcement action or not part of an ongoing law enforcement investigation is retained for 180 days.  
  •  Data resulting in parking enforcement action is retained with the citation according to established college data retention policies.  

Access to Records: 

  • Access to records created and maintained by the LPR system is restricted to trained Parking Office and Campus Safety Personnel performing their 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.  
Report an issue - Last updated: 08/05/2021