SF Officials Propose New Bill To Punish Abuse Of License Plate Reader Data

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — San Francisco officials plan to introduce a new bill to mitigate abuse of automated license plate readers.

The bill, introduced by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkin and Assemblymember Matt Haney, would put "meaningful safeguards" in place to prevent misuse of the tool while "preserving" it as a meaningful resource to help solve crimes and find missing people, officials said.

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"Protecting civil liberties builds trust- and trust makes us safer," Jenkin said in a statement on Tuesday. "These are critical steps to strengthen trust and cooperation with law enforcement that will make our city safer."

Automated license plate readers have been around for decades, but have recently garnered more attention because of their association with Flock and claims that the company shares data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising concerns about overall privacy.

Flock has denied those claims, and police say the technology helps them solve crimes. But many communities across the country, and in the Bay Area, have chosen to cut ties with the company amidst public uproar.

The proposed bill also comes as law enforcement officers at agencies across the country face criminal charges for abusing license plate reader data.

In Florida, a woman was stalked and pulled over by a sheriff's deputy who saw her at a TV shoot, according to the Institute of Justice, which is tracking cases of automated license plate reader misuse across the United States. The deputy is accused of surveilling the woman using data from the automated license plate readers.

In Texas, a sheriff's deputy used 83,000 cameras to track a local woman who had an abortion across multiple states, according to the Institute of Justice.

"It should be a crime to share sensitive information without a clear and lawful purpose. Period," Assemblymember Haney said. "If you're a public safety officer with access to sensitive information about where people go and when they go there, that access comes with an enormous responsibility and a very limited purpose. You don't get to use that information to track someone for personal reasons, share it with a friend or family member, or use it for anything unrelated to your job."

Penalties already exist in California for people who misuse certain sensitive government information systems, and the proposed legislation would "extend criminal accountability to mirror similar existing consequences to those who abuse their authorized access to ALPR systems for unauthorized purposes," officials said.

Officials say the proposed bill would not require any jurisdiction to install the license plate reader technology and would still give local governments the authority to restrict its use.

"Jurisdictions that choose not to use ALPR technology would remain free to maintain those policies," officials said.