San Francisco has decided to continue using Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, a move that means ongoing surveillance for drivers in the city. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reported on this decision in a recent article, highlighting that the new policy introduces what they call "weak safeguards" for public safety cameras.
For drivers, this means your license plate data will continue to be collected and stored. The city's new policy does not require a warrant to search stored ALPR data. This leaves your travel history vulnerable to searches without judicial oversight.
What does the new ALPR policy mean for drivers?
San Francisco's updated policy introduces several provisions, but privacy advocates argue they do not go far enough to protect drivers' data.
Key aspects of the new policy include:
- No warrant requirement for searching stored ALPR data. Instead, an incident or computer-aided dispatch (CAD) number is sufficient for officers to access your location history.
- No specified deadline for deleting ALPR data. Data must be moved from vendor servers to city servers within 30 days, but it remains permanently accessible.
- Better audit logs are in place, but these only expose abuse after a search has occurred. They don't prevent the collection or initial search of your data.
These measures mean that while there are some attempts at transparency, the fundamental issue of mass data collection without strong judicial checks remains. This impacts anyone driving through San Francisco, as their movements can be tracked and recorded.
How does this compare to other cities?
San Francisco's approach stands in contrast to actions taken in other communities across the country. Many cities and states have either rejected ALPR systems or implemented stricter controls over their use.
For example, some jurisdictions require:
- Rapid data deletion, with New Hampshire mandating deletion within three minutes.
- Warrant requirements for accessing ALPR data, ensuring a higher bar for privacy protection.
Flock Safety, a major ALPR vendor, has even reduced its default data retention time to seven days. However, San Francisco's policy allows for indefinite retention once data is moved to city servers. This puts San Francisco behind best practices for protecting driver privacy.
This decision means that drivers in San Francisco will continue to have their movements recorded and stored, accessible to law enforcement under conditions that critics say are insufficient. To learn more about ALPRs and how they work, visit our /learn page. You can also check our /map to see where these cameras are located.
The city's ongoing use of ALPRs, even with new policies, signals a continued reliance on this technology for surveillance. The EFF states that "the community is demanding an end to the collection itself," not just better policies around its use.
For now, the situation for drivers in San Francisco remains largely unchanged regarding the presence and data collection capabilities of ALPRs.