The Oswego County Sheriff's department ticketed two drivers Sunday night after using a license plate scanner to find out that the drivers didn't have their registration, according to Oswego County sheriff's deputies.

Nationwide, the American Civil Liberties Union has questioned the use of license plate reader, saying police departments use the data provided by the scanners to track the movements of people who aren't criminals.

"License plate readers can serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose when they alert police to the location of a car associated with a criminal investigation," reads the ACLU report on the topic. "But such instances account for a tiny fraction of license plate scans, and too many police departments are storing millions of records about innocent drivers."

In Oswego County, Justin C. Kates, 24, of 5 Victor Lane, Hamlin, NY, was charged with driving with a suspended registration after his license plate was scanned by a license plate reader in a police car on State Route 104 in the town of Oswego, deputies said. He was issued a ticket, deputies said.



Joshua R. Lyons, 23, of 675 O'Connor Road, Oswego, NY, also was ticketed Sunday night for driving without registration or a valid inspection after his car's license plate was scanned in the town of Scriba.

The ACLU report revealed that police departments uses the license plate scanners to track people who attended local mosques in New York City. And in Colorado, police used the technology to single out people based on their music preferences -- sweeping license plates at a rave party and a county-western bar, according to the report.

Contact Marnie Eisenstadt at 315-470-2246 or meisenstadt@syracuse.com.