Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) - Cameras that capture movement of vehicles and upload their locations to a searchable and sharable database

Audits - internal reviews and checks to see how systems are being accessed and used

Speed Cameras - Cameras that are installed along roads to detect vehicles driving over the speed limit

Surveillance Cameras - Cameras placed in areas to monitor activity, stated for security purposes

Data Retention - The duration of how long ALPR systems store data that is collected (license plate numbers, timestamps, locations). However, some cities in the Bay Area may share the data with other agencies, so there is no guarantee that the data might get fully deleted. Additionally, many police departments retain the data if there is a potential to use it for criminal investigation.

Drones - Flying devices that can have cameras or other sensors that may record videos

Flock Safety - a private company that sells ALPR systems to police departments, governments, neighborhoods, and parties

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs):

• Cameras that capture movement of vehicles and upload their locations to a searchable and sharable database
• These cameras use artificial intelligence and computer vision to read and save the following of every vehicle that passes through its field of vision:
• License plate
• Make, model, and color vehicle
• Locations: Typically on street lights, patrol vehicles
• ALPR technologies and data are also used in predictive analysis, which could impact what interest you pay for financing when trading in a car or for auto insurance renewal prices
• Commercial uses of ALPRs show the same patterns for race- and class-based discrimination as ALPR uses by police departments

Speed Cameras

• Cameras placed near intersections that ticket vehicles for going over speed limits.

Surveillance Cameras

• Cameras placed in public areas to monitor areas

Drones

• Unmanned aerial vehicles with cameras that capture images or videos from various distances and varying altitudes
• As part of San Francisco PD’s Real Time Investigation Center, they now use drones. The RTIC uses real-time video, AI-powered analytics, and other technologies to assist officers

Flock Safety’s ALPRs are commonly used in the Bay Area. See here for which cities.

Based on a 2019 California Audit, some police departments’ manufacturers are also Motorola Solutions, Vigilant Solutions, PIPS, ELSAG, Genetec.

Some cities in the Bay Area that use Flock Safety are:

• Berkeley
• Hayward
• Oakland
• Palo Alto
• San Jose
• San Francisco
• South San Francisco
• Sunnyvale
• And many more!

People of Color

• Especially with technologies that include facial recognition, there are higher error rates for people with darker skin tones, such as Black and Hispanic folks

Protesters

• The use of surveillance technologies increases when protests occur.
• At a Black Lives Matter protest in Long Beach in 2020, police had flagged cars of protesters from ALPR cameras because they were parked near a looting site.

People Seeking Abortions

• 41 U.S. states have abortion bans in effect (12 states with total abortion bans and the rest having bans based on gestational duration)
• Period-tracking apps may sell users’ health data to data brokers. This can be used to analyze cycles, pregnancy status, or potential abortion history.
• Search histories and location information may be tracked to people who are potentially seeking an abortion or visiting clinics.

Undocumented Immigrants

• In 2007, Chula Vista police first started using ALPR cameras. When the city contracted with Vigilant Solutions in 2017, ICE gained access to the city’s database of stored license plate images.
• While ICE’s access was revoked in 2020 and the SB34 bill prohibits providing ALPR data to agencies like ICE, there is always still potential for data-sharing loopholes or policy violations.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

• a U.S. federal law that gives people the right to request information kept by federal government agencies
• FOIA requests have to be directed at a particular federal agency and have to reasonably describe the records you want
• The request can be broad and ask for a large volume of records, but you cannot ask for all documents that belongs to an agency nor can the agency create new documents upon your request
• Tips: Do research to identify that the record exists by finding if it is mentioned in a speech, article, policy document, etc.

What do I request?

Anything that is a record created by or in possession of the government.

• Examples of information to request:
• Contracts and agreements
• Communications (emails, texts, letters, recorded phone calls)
• PowerPoints and other slide presentations
• Training materials
• Databases
• Personnel and disciplinary records (of an employee or employer including yourself)
• Use of force reports (incidents where use of force by an officer or civilian results in injury or death or discharge of firearm by an officer or civilian)
• Videos
• Invoices and receipts
• Reports and audits
• Grant and funding information
• Policies and other guiding documentation
• Complaints
• FBI files
• Special Threat Event Assessments
• Bidding and procurement records (purchasing activities)

California Public Records Act

https://post.ca.gov/California-Public-Records-Act-FAQs

The California Public Records Act was passed in 1968 to require that government records are disclosed to the public upon request.

• A public record is defined as “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.”

Examples on what to request

• Requesting dash camera or body camera footage of a police officer
• Drone flight videos under a police department
• ALPR data from a police department

Police Encounters

Through the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA) - SB 178, no California government entity can search one’s phones and no police officer can search for online accounts without going to a judge & getting a warrant, getting one’s consent, or showing it is an emergency.

• Does CalECPA protect everyone in california including undocumented immigrants?

ALPR Data Breaches

• Under SB34 bill, you must be notified if your ALPR data is leaked or breached.

Communications

Phone Privacy

• Use a normal passcode instead of a biometric such as Face ID or fingerprint
• Law enforcement in some parts of the United States has tools that can intercept cellphone signals (stingrays or IMSI catchers)
• From a March 2014 ACLU article, law enforcement agencies across the Bay Area utilize stingrays
• Agencies included: Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Fremont Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Oakland Police Department, Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Police Department, San Francisco Police Department, San José Police Department, and potentially more
• Minimize location tracking by managing what location information that apps have
• You can find Location settings in your phone’s “Settings” app
• Especially for protests, use encrypted messaging apps such as Signal or WhatsApp
• Turn off lock screen notifications

California Department of Justice Declares Out-of-State Sharing of License Plate Data Unlawful

In November 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta declared that law enforcement agencies cannot share license plate data collected by ALPRs with federal or out-of state agencies.

2019 California State Audit of ALPRs

In 2019, the Electronic Frontier Foundation successfully lobbied the legislature to order the California State Auditor to investigate the use of ALPR. The auditor raised a long list of concerns, which include failures to conduct audits, risk of data abuse, and problems with the ALPR policies. All departments did not have an ALPR policy that fully complied with the SB34 bill.

SB34 Bill

In October 2015, senate bill SB34 officially became law to address privacy concerns of ALPRs to prevent surveillance misuse and ensure transparency. It was one of the first laws in the United States to regulate ALPR technology.

San Francisco Woman Pulled Out of Car at Gunpoint Because of License Plate Reader Error

→ In 2009, Denise Green, a Black woman, was stopped on the road after police acted on a tip from an ALPR that misread her license plate for a stolen car.