Here's what the AI cameras on Dallas trash trucks can see

The camera contractor said its system automatically blurs license plates, but NBC 5 Investigates obtained an image the city said required manual redaction after a plate was missed.

Dallas Code Compliance said it has taken additional measures to protect privacy after NBC 5 Investigates questioned a photo from the new AI cameras mounted on city trash trucks used to detect code violations on homes.

In a recent interview, the contractor that operates the cameras, City Detect, told NBC 5 Investigates that its system automatically blurs private information such as license plates and people's faces captured in the photos.

"So, nobody has access to any unblurred faces or license plates," City Detect CEO Gavin Baum-Blake said.

But when NBC 5 Investigates filed open records requests asking to see more than two dozen photos from the system, the city sent us one image that did not look like the rest.

In most photos, faces and license plates were blurred. But one photo had a large black box over the license plate with the words “motor vehicle” written on it. The city told NBC 5 it had to add that black box to redact the plate number because it was still visible in the original image.

"I let the vendor know that we were surprised, and that was when they told us that generally the effectiveness of that process is about 99% effective. And they understood the concern," said Jeremy Reed, assistant director of Dallas Code Compliance and the one who oversees the camera program.

NBC 5 Investigates asked Reed how people can trust the system if it may not blur all license plates.

"I can see that concern. I would say code compliance has no need or desire to see faces and license plates. That's why we've asked for the blurring to happen," Reed said.

Reed said after NBC 5 Investigates questioned the photo, his team sent it back to City Detect and asked the company to run all photos in the system through the blurring process.

In a statement, City Detect told NBC 5 Investigates, "...our accuracy rate is very high, but no blurring technology will be 100% perfect, which is why City staff is encouraged to flag anything the system misses so it can be redacted."

The company also said, "Even in the case where a license plate gets missed, there is no ability to search for a license plate anywhere in our system. There is no plate database, no plate index, and no connection to any external plate or law enforcement database."

"The privacy, I don't like it," said Dallas resident Alan Tubbs, who owns the home in the photo where the city says it had to take additional measures to redact the license plate on a vehicle parked in the driveway.

Tubbs told NBC 5 Investigates he understands the photos are taken from public streets. But he's still not thrilled about it.

And he's concerned that the city may use cameras to increase code enforcement fines.

"It's another way to make money. And sooner or later, they'll do that," Tubbs said.

After snapping that photo, the city sent Tubbs what it calls a "courtesy notice" asking him to correct a code violation.

City records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates showed the cameras identified driveway and lawn "debris." But Tubbs said the notice he got was unclear, and he assumed it referred to litter that sometimes blows around the alley behind his street.

As NBC 5 Investigates first reported, the city has already sent more than 3,700 courtesy notices to property owners stemming from violations the cameras first detected.

Code Compliance said it’s also opened more than 300 new enforcement cases on properties and issued more than 50 citations so far. The city said human reviewers examine the AI camera photos to confirm code violations.

Residents in another U.S. city pushed back against plans to use the same cameras last year.

"I believe AI cameras mounted on trash trucks is a violation of people's privacy. This is surveillance. This is Big Brother," said Lynn Anderson during a July 24, 2025, City Council meeting in Huntsville, Alabama.

Huntsville city leaders hit pause on the plan to install the cameras after hearing concerns from some residents.

"A lot of people immediately felt sort of outraged about it," said Whitney Washington, vice president of the North Alabama Area Labor Council, which mobilized opposition to the cameras.

Washington said her organization was concerned cameras might replace human workers, even though her group doesn't represent Huntsville's code enforcement staff. She said some in the community also feared frequent photographing of homes could build a catalog of information about the property.

"If you're detecting people's houses, why wouldn't you also be able to see the people at the house or what cars are at a house?" Washington said.

In some of the Dallas photos NBC 5 Investigates obtained, vehicle characteristics are sometimes visible even when license plates and faces are blurred.

Unique vehicle markings such as bumper stickers or paint designs can be seen, and the photos are stamped with the date and time they were taken at a particular address.

People's clothing and body details are also sometimes visible even when a face is blurred.

"I would say that a Google Street View camera could see the same thing," Reed said.

Dallas Code Compliance insists that the city uses the cameras only to track code issues.

"I see the concern, but we are taking every step that we know how to take to protect people's privacy, and we think that we're doing a good job," Reed said.

City Detect told NBC 5 Investigates that using the system to check whether a certain type of car was frequently parked at the same address would be a "misuse" of the system, and that the company insists no one is doing that. The company also pointed out that even if general vehicle descriptions are visible, a person couldn't verify ownership without the plate number.

But in a statement to NBC 5 Investigates, the company added, "That said, you've raised a good point, and we're discussing additional functionality to make sure the system isn't misused."

Dallas City Council members will have a chance to ask more questions about the cameras soon at a briefing scheduled for October.