The latter is made up of six different instrument stations that gather data on plate tectonics, hydrothermal vents and deep sea creatures.

MSN: Seafloor observatory to keep close eye on Arctic Ocean

Preventing theft and fraud may seem like legitimate uses of that license plate data.

FORBES: U.S. Customs Tracks Millions Of License Plates And Has Shared Data With Insurance Firms

Data from license plate readers is considered law enforcement sensitive and can only be shared with law enforcement personnel and special investigative units of the NICB on an official need-to-know basis.

FORBES: U.S. Customs Tracks Millions Of License Plates And Has Shared Data With Insurance Firms

In April British members of Parliament learned that almost a year earlier the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, had secretly authorised the transfer of licence-plate data recorded by roadside cameras to foreign intelligence agencies.

ECONOMIST: Data mining

The system can gather data from security cameras, license-plate readers, radiation detectors and 911 calls and hunt through dozens of existing law-enforcement databases for related information.

WSJ: New Tracking Tool for NYPD