Signal Automated License Plate Reader Rules Face Change Under New State and Federal Bills

Summary

A California state bill from Assemblymember Cervantes would generally limit police retention of automated license plate reader (ALPR) data to 30 days, with exceptions for active investigations or missing-persons searches; California lawmakers have debated tighter ALPR rules for six consecutive years. At the federal level, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is sponsoring a bill to withhold federal funding from municipalities and police departments that deploy Flock cameras to surveil law-abiding citizens. Separately, the federal PRIVACY Act would require federal law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing or querying data from state and local surveillance systems, including ALPRs. Critics point to documented cases of California police misusing plate data to stalk or harass individuals and repeatedly violating an 11-year-old state law that bars sharing the data with federal authorities outside the state. The three-track push marks growing scrutiny of commercial surveillance infrastructure like Flock's camera network.