Senate Bill 893 would restrict the use of images from automated license plate readers (ALPR) for non-law enforcement purposes. One amendment stipulates that any security breach must be reported directly to those affected, and if the bill passes, motorists who feel their rights have been violated can bring civil action.
ALPRs – which convert a license plate image to computer-readable data — are usually mounted on the top of a police patrol car, but are also used by private gated communities to record who enters and leaves a facility, and in 2010, Tiburon was one of the first municipalities in the nation to install stationary ALPRs to record plates of those entering and leaving the city. A bill analysis of SB 893 by the Senate Judiciary Committee said that one California-based company has compiled a database of more than 550 million license plate records that can be searched by police. And thus privacy and security of the data is at issue.
State senator Jerry Hill (D — San Mateo) wrote SB 893 to reduce the amount of time that reader operators can retain the information, as well as prohibit them from selling or distributing it. Law enforcement must also record the date and purpose of accessing the information.
According to a written statement from Hill, the technology is a "critical component of modern policing," citing how the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department used the technology to find nearly 500 stolen vehicles, five carjacked vehicles and multiple vehicles involved in felonies. However, Hill stated, these readers must have checks to protect the privacy of citizens.
"Except for data collected by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), current law does not provide any privacy safeguards for data collected by automatic license plate reader (ALPR) systems&hellip SB 893 would place reasonable limits on the use of data collected by ALPR technology," Hill wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union supports the legislation, but the bill is opposed by multiple police departments and licensed private investigators across the state.
The bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 5-2 and has been re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations, where it will be discussed in a hearing on May 12.
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