Open Records Laws Reveal ALPRs' Sprawling Surveillance. Now States Want to Block What the Public Sees.

Automated Summary:

Several states are proposing or have enacted laws that exempt Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) information from public records laws, which could diminish meaningful oversight over these controversial technologies. Bills in Connecticut (SB 4), Arizona (SB 1111), and Washington state have restricted access to ALPR data, while similar exemptions already exist in Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, and Oklahoma.

Efforts to wholly exempt ALPR information from public records laws are concerning because they limit transparency and oversight of government surveillance practices. A better approach would be to maintain coverage under open records laws but apply a privacy exemption that requires case-by-case balancing of the benefits and costs of disclosure. This could include allowing agencies to redact specific private information while disclosing non-private portions of documents.

Key Recommendations:

1. Open records laws should cover ALPR-collected data.
2. Privacy exemptions should require balancing transparency benefits against privacy costs.
3. Allow redaction of private information within otherwise disclosable documents.
4. Permit disclosure of aggregated or deidentified ALPR data to protect individual privacy while enabling public oversight.

These measures can help harmonize privacy and transparency concerns in the context of ALPR data, ensuring meaningful oversight without compromising individual privacy rights.

Read the full article at EFF Deeplinks

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