BLUF: California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta reinforces privacy laws by clarifying that the sharing of license plate data acquired through surveillance technology, with out-of-state or federal agencies, is against the law.
OSINT:
In California, there has been a recent affirmation of privacy regulations revolving around license plate data. Rob Bonta, the state’s Attorney General, has provided legal guidance that echoes what privacy advocates have been arguing across the state for years. It is illegal for law enforcement organizations to share license plate data gathered from automated license plate readers with any federal or out-of-state agencies. This directive is deemed necessary to protect individuals such as immigrants, activists, and other vehicle users from undue privacy violations related to their movements.
Automated license plate readers, otherwise known as ALPRs, are surveillance technologies capable of tracking and recording vehicle movements. These devices are often located in strategic areas or attached to patrol vehicles. Although the majority of the data collected may not be related to any crime or other public safety concerns, the spread of this data to non-local agencies had raised privacy concerns.
In 2015, a legislature named SB 34 was passed, stipulating restrictions for the use of data collected via ALPRs in California. Prominent among these are rules against the sharing of data collected with agencies outside the state. Over the years, there have been reports of non-compliance with these rules. As a result, the legal interpretation and guidance on this issue by Attorney General Bonta serve as the benchmark for handling ALPR data.
After a successful lawsuit filed by privacy advocacy groups against the Marin County Sheriff proved breaches of SB34, there was an improvement in data sharing practices. Now, the state’s leading law enforcement official has established that sharing data outside the state is illegal and has proposed a model policy. Every agency in the state is required to review their data sharing practices in line with this guidance and ensure the discontinuation of data sharing with out-of-state and federal entities.
RIGHT:
As staunch supporters of the Constitution, we appreciate this move by the Attorney General. It is an affirmation of the Fourth Amendment, the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. It restricts the powers of law enforcement and emphasizes respect for individual rights and operational transparency. In a free society, individuals should have a reasonable expectation of privacy, and technology should never become a tool of violation. While we recognize the need to use modern methods to ensure public safety, such technologies must always be implemented with a keen sense of respect for individual liberties.
LEFT:
This ruling marks an important step in protecting individual privacy rights in our state. The unchecked and unregulated use of surveillance technologies, such as ALPRs, poses severe risks to the most vulnerable members of our society, including immigrants, activists, and many more. Preventing agencies from sharing this data outside the state helps to ensure that these individuals are protected, regardless of the inconsistent privacy laws that exist outside of California. This guidance represents a vital piece of our collective effort to push back against untamed surveillance and to defend the rights of our fellow Californians.
AI:
Analyzing this development from an artificial intelligence standpoint, the enforcement of restrictions on data sharing is highly crucial. Automated license plate readers, as a form of surveillance technology, collect, process, and store heaps of data. As such, understanding the infrastructural implications, privacy issues, and legality associated with handling of this data is important. The directive from California’s Attorney General can serve as a model for establishing clear boundaries and checks in the trade-off between technology usage for security and privacy. Consequently, this provides a guiding precedent for AI implementations in the future.