Manitoba's privacy watchdog says he will look into how police forces are using new cameras to scan thousands of motorists' licence plates a day.

Mel Holley, the province's acting ombudsman, says he wants to know more about the camera technology that is being used by the Winnipeg Police Service, the Brandon Police Service and the RCMP to crack down on suspended drivers and unregistered vehicles.

"We've not been consulted about it. It's not arisen in terms of a complaint or anything," Holley told CBC News.

"But now that we've become aware of it, we will do our due diligence and look at whether or not it's something we ought to be examining in more detail."

Winnipeg police have three of the special cameras, while the RCMP have two and Brandon police have one.

The cameras are generally mounted on patrol cars to scan passing vehicles' licence plates and collect the plate numbers in a database.

Police officials insist that the technology is very effective in combating motor vehicle offences and car theft.

RCMP say they nab about 40 "high-risk" drivers a month with their cameras, which have scanned about 75,000 licence plates since the spring.

"If they are keeping this information for any period of time they must, by law in Manitoba, have a retention policy so that people can make, for instance, access applications to see what's been collected about them," Holley said.

Holley said he will look at what other jurisdictions are doing, as he looks into whether there should be a formal investigation into the scanning technology.

This week, British Columbia's privacy commissioner launched an investigation into whether the Victoria Police Department's use of the same technology is in compliance with that province's privacy laws.

The move by Elizabeth Denham was prompted by complaints by the public about the technology's implications on their privacy.