Home Depot and Lowe's have implemented license plate recognition (LPR) technology at many of their stores in the United States. This system scans the license plates of vehicles entering and exiting parking lots, primarily to prevent theft and track customer behavior.
According to reports from 2024 and 2025, the retailers use this data to identify vehicles linked to previous theft incidents, allowing security to monitor repeat offenders. The data is also used for marketing purposes, such as linking purchase history to license plates for targeted ads.
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the lack of transparency and potential misuse of this data. Neither company has publicly disclosed how long they retain the data or whether it is shared with third parties. As of May 2026, no major data breaches have been reported, but the practice remains controversial.
