San Francisco, CA – Today, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Assemblymember Matt Haney announced plans of introducing a legislative bill designed to strengthen accountability for individuals who misuse their authorized access to Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) data.

ALPR systems and other emerging law enforcement technologies can provide important tools to help law enforcement agencies investigate crimes, identify vehicles connected to criminal activity, and protect communities. However, along with access to this sensitive data comes a responsibility to ensure the information is used only for legitimate and authorized purposes.

California law already recognizes the seriousness of misusing certain sensitive government information systems and provides consequences for unauthorized access or use. 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.

“Protecting civil liberties builds trust- and trust makes us safer. We’re putting meaningful safeguards in place that will hold anyone who misuses camera data accountable, while preserving a vital tool for finding missing people and solving serious crimes,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, “These are critical steps to strengthen trust and cooperation with law enforcement that will make our city safer.”

The legislation is intended to ensure that individuals entrusted with access to ALPR systems, including law enforcement officers, agency employees and other governing personnel, can face appropriate criminal consequences when they knowingly abuse that access.
The proposal does not require any jurisdiction to use ALPR technology and does not interfere with the authority of local governments to prohibit or restrict its use. Jurisdictions that choose not to use ALPR technology would remain free to maintain those policies.

“It should be a crime to share sensitive information without a clear and lawful purpose. Period. It’s unacceptable and dangerous that it isn’t already,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney. “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. If you abuse that access, there should be criminal consequences, and you should be prosecuted.”

This commonsense legislation is straightforward: access to sensitive public safety information is a privilege and intentionally abusing that privilege should carry meaningful consequences.

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