Since ALPRs are effectively fixed in a geographic place with gaps and AFAIK do have relatively low retention periods (I need to double check this), they don't offer the same "whole person movement" data that a phone would when described in Carpenter.
Will be interesting to see how this goes, and I'm sure ALPR density may play a part in it, but for now I don't think it violates someone's privacy under the 4th amendment.
This debate also ties heavily into one around the surveillance network created via camera networks like Ring.
If this were an app - Location sharing by default has been set to 25 miles, I’d prefer it to be OFF.
You're not wrong that it's still tracking. Though, whether it's tracking or not isn't really the thing up for debate here.
In my head it's:
A) Whether you have a reasonable expectation of privacy from a person or company when driving your car with a personally identifiable plate on a public street.
B) Is it your data that is being searched or is it the data of the company who owns the ALPR? Is it a violation of your rights for that data to be searched?
The decision in Carpenter is extremely narrow and doesn't cover things like cameras or non-targeted tower dumps.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
It's also similar to the ever growing network of toll road cameras and bridge/highway cameras that capture an image of each car + driver's face.
