Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Across Uzbekistan, banks of about 100 high-tech roadside cameras continuously scan the license plates of vehicles and passengers, sometimes thousands a day, to check for traffic violations. Cars with red lights; drivers not wearing seat belts; and unlicensed vehicles driving at night, to name a few.
The driver of one of the most closely monitored vehicles in the system was followed for six months as he traveled between the eastern city of Chirchiq, through the capital Tashkent, and to the nearby village of Eshonguzar, often several times a week.
We know this because the main licensing system in the country has been left online.
A security researcher Anurag Senwho discovered the security breach, discovered that the license checking program was exposed on the Internet without a password, allowing anyone to access the contents. It is not known how long this monitor has been in the public domain, but the old system data shows that its database was installed in September 2024, and traffic monitoring began in mid-2025.
The disclosure provides a rare glimpse into how these kinds of license-checking systems work, what they collect, and how they can be used to track the whereabouts of millions of people across the country.
Temperature also indicates stress security and privacy risks coordinate and monitor the mass of vehicles and their owners, while the United States is building its entire fleet of license plate readers, information provided by the main Flock team. Earlier this week, independent news outlet 404 Media reported that Flock had abandoned most of its online paper-reading cameras, allowing a reporter watch them being tracked in real time and Flock camera.
Sen said he discovered the Uzbek license verification system earlier this month, and shared details of the security breach with TechCrunch. Sen told TechCrunch that the system’s database reveals the exact location of the cameras, and contains millions of photos and videos of traffic cameras.
The system is run by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tashkent, which did not respond to emails requesting an explanation of the security lapses in December.
Uzbek government officials in Washington DC and New York did not respond to TechCrunch’s emails about the disclosure. Uzbekistan’s computer emergency preparedness group, UZCERT, did not respond to the system’s warning, except for an obvious response to acknowledge receipt of our email.
The management system remains open online at the time of writing.
The system bills itself as an “intelligent vehicle control system” by Maxvision, a Shenzhen, China-based developer of Internet-connected technologies, border control systems, and surveillance products. In video on LinkedInthe company says its cameras can record “all illegal activities,” and “can show illegal and illegal activities in real time.”
According to his bookletMaxvision exports its security and surveillance technology to countries around the world, including Burkina Faso, Kuwait, Oman, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan.
TechCrunch’s analysis of information within the surveillance system revealed at least a hundred cameras located in major Uzbek cities, as well as busy roads and other important transportation systems.
We fixed the GPS tracks of the cameras, and we located the license-counting banks in Tashkent, the cities of Jizzakh and Qarshi in the south, and Namangan in the east. Some of the cameras are in rural areas, such as on the road near parts of the border that once clashed between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
In Tashkent, the country’s largest city, cameras can be found in more than a dozen locations. Some of these cameras are also visible on Google Street View.
The cameras, some of which display their images under the name of Singaporean camera manufacturer Holowits, capture videos and photos of vehicles breaking the law in 4K resolution.
The transparent system allows access to the Internet, which has a dashboard that allows users to view traffic violations. The dashboard is equipped with high-quality graphics and videos of traffic violations, as well as traffic. (TechCrunch updated the license plates and passenger numbers of the cars before publication.)
The unveiling of Uzbekistan’s license-reading machine is the latest example of security breaches involving road surveillance cameras.
Earlier this year, Wired said that more than 150 license plate readers around the United States and the real vehicle data they collect were exposed on the Internet without any security.
The display of license plates is not a new phenomenon. In 2019, TechCrunch reported this more than a hundred readers of the bowl bowl were searching and available from the Internet, allowing anyone to access the content. Some were has been revealed for yearsalthough security researchers are warning security agencies that these systems can be found online.
To contact this reporter securely, you can reach him using Signal via the username: zackwhittaker.1337
