BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  SB 1330|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                         |
          |327-4478                          |                         |
           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
           
                                         
                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 1330
          Author:   Simitian (D)
          Amended:  5/29/12
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  5-3, 3/27/12
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Kehoe, Pavley, Rubio, Simitian
          NOES:  Gaines, Harman, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Lowenthal

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  3-2, 4/24/12
          AYES:  Evans, Corbett, Leno
          NOES:  Harman, Blakeslee


           SUBJECT  :    License plate recognition technology

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill places restrictions on the use of 
          license plate recognition (LPR) technology by private 
          entities, including restrictions on the retention, use, and 
          sale of such data.  

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 5/29/12 authorize a person to 
          sell or distribute LPR data to limited individuals or 
          entities, as specified, for purposes of collection of 
          outstanding parking tickets, enforcement of local parking 
          ordinances, or recovery or attempted recovery of collateral 
          that requires registration with the Department of Motor 
          Vehicles.  
                                                           CONTINUED





                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          2


           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law, the California Constitution, 
          provides that all people have inalienable rights, including 
          the right to pursue and obtain privacy.  (California 
          Constitution, Article I, Section 1)  

          Existing law permits the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to 
          retain license plate data captured by a license plate 
          reader for no more than 60 days, except in circumstances 
          when the data is being used as evidence or for all felonies 
          being investigated, including, but not limited to, auto 
          theft, homicides, kidnaping, burglaries, elder and juvenile 
          abductions, Amber Alerts, and Blue Alerts.  (Vehicle Code 
          (VEH) Section 2413(b)) 

          Existing law prohibits the CHP from selling LPR data for 
          any purpose and making it available to an agency that is 
          not a law enforcement agency or an individual who is not a 
          law enforcement officer.  The data may be used by a law 
          enforcement agency only for purposes of locating vehicles 
          or persons when either are reasonably suspected of being 
          involved in the commission of a public offense.  (VEH 
          Section 2413(c))

          Existing law requires the CHP to monitor internal use of 
          the LPR data to prevent unauthorized use.  (VEH Section 
          2413(d))

          Existing law requires the CHP to report to the Legislature 
          its LPR practices and usage, including the number of LPR 
          data disclosures, a record of the agencies to which data 
          was disclosed and for what purpose, and any changes in 
          policy that affect privacy concerns.  (VEH Section 2413(e))

          This bill:

          1. Imposes the following restrictions on any person who 
             uses LPR technology other than a state or local law 
             enforcement agency: 

                   the person shall not retain license plate data 
                captured by LPR technology for more than 60 days; 

                   the person shall not sell LPR data for any 







                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          3

                purpose and shall not make the data available to an 
                agency or person that is not a law enforcement agency 
                or officer;

                   the person may sell or distribute LPR data to 
                limited individuals or entities, as specified, for 
                purposes of collection of outstanding parking 
                tickets, enforcement of local parking ordinances, or 
                recovery or attempted recovery of collateral that 
                requires registration with the Department of Motor 
                Vehicles;

                   the person shall make data available to a law 
                enforcement agency only pursuant to a search warrant. 
                 Unless the search warrant contains a provision to 
                the contrary, the law enforcement agency shall 
                immediately, but within no more than five days, 
                notify the person whose information was disclosed 
                that his/her records have been obtained.  This bill 
                requires the agency to give a copy of the search 
                warrant to the person and include the identity of the 
                agency or officer who received the records; and

                   the person must allow a peace officer who is 
                conducting a criminal or traffic collision 
                investigation to obtain personally identifiable 
                information of a person if the officer has good cause 
                to believe that a delay in obtaining the information 
                by seeking a search warrant would cause an adverse 
                result, as specified. 

          2. Requires a person using LPR technology to monitor the 
             internal use of LPR data to prevent its unauthorized 
             use.

          3. Requires a person using LPR technology to adopt a 
             privacy policy to ensure that personally identifiable 
             information is not unlawfully disclosed.

          4. Requires a person using LPR technology to report 
             annually to the Department of Justice on its LPR 
             practices and usage, including the number of LPR data 
             disclosures, a record of the law enforcement agencies or 
             peace officers to which data was disclosed and for what 







                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          4

             purpose, and any changes in policy that affect privacy 
             concerns.  

          5. Provides that any person whose information is sold or 
             disclosed in violation of this bill's provisions 
             relating to the use of LPR technology by persons other 
             than a state or local law enforcement agency may bring a 
             civil action and shall be entitled to recover any and 
             all consequential and incidental damages, including all 
             costs and attorney's fees.

           Background
               
          License plate technology uses cameras and computer 
          technology to record license plate information of vehicles. 
           The cameras are either mobile (e.g., attached to the 
          outside of a vehicle) or stationary, and the images they 
          collect of license plate numbers are converted into 
          computer-readable data which is then instantly checked 
          against various databases such as the National Crime 
          Information Center.  LPR technology captures other data as 
          well, including the geographic location of the vehicle and 
          the time and date that it is scanned.  This information can 
          then be retained in a database.  The technology works at 
          lightning speed; one company, VeriPlate, indicates that its 
          cameras can capture one license plate every second.

          Law enforcement uses LPR technology to identify and locate 
          stolen vehicles or compare the information obtained against 
          databases of outstanding warrants.  Auto repossession 
          companies take advantage of LPR technology to help find 
          debtors who are behind on their car payments.  In January 
          2012, a California Watch article entitled "Private company 
          hoarding license-plate data on US drivers" noted: 

            Capitalizing on one of the fastest-growing trends in law 
            enforcement, a private California-based company has 
            compiled a database bulging with more than 550 million 
            license-plate records on both innocent and criminal 
            drivers that can be searched by police.  . . .  ÝP]olice 
            around the country have been affixing high-tech scanners 
            to the exterior of their patrol cars, snapping a picture 
            of every passing license plate and automatically 
            comparing them to databases of outstanding warrants, 







                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          5

            stolen cars, and wanted bank robbers.  The units work by 
            sounding an in-car alert if the scanner comes across a 
            license plate of interest to police, whereas before, 
            patrol officers generally needed some reason to take an 
            interest in the vehicle, like a traffic violation.

            But when a license plate is scanned, the driver's 
            geographic location is also recorded and saved, along 
            with the date and time, each of which amounts to a record 
            or data point.  Such data collection occurs regardless of 
            whether the driver is a wanted criminal, and the vast 
            majority are not.

            While privacy rules restrict what police can do with 
            their own databases, Vigilant Video, headquartered in 
            Livermore, Calif., offers a loophole.  It's a private 
            business not required to operate by those same rules.  . 
            . .  Vigilant distinguished itself from competitors by 
            going one step further and collecting hundreds of 
            millions of scans to create what's known as the National 
            Vehicle Location Service.  A West Coast sales manager for 
            the company, Randy Robinson, said the scanners - as well 
            as data from them compiled in the location system - do 
            far more than simply help identify stolen vehicles.  
            Stories abound of the technology also being used by 
            police to stop wanted killers, bank robbers, and drug 
            suspects.  Kidnappers could be intercepted, too.

          Existing law restricts the use of LPR technology by the 
          CHP.  In 2011, the Legislature passed and the Governor 
          signed AB 115 (Assembly Budget Committee), Chapter 38, 
          Statutes of 2011, the transportation budget trailer bill, 
          which allowed the CHP to retain data captured by LPR 
          technology for no more than 60 days except as specified.  
          The bill also prohibited the CHP from selling the data or 
          making it available to anyone other than law enforcement.  

           FISCAL EFFECT :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/29/12)

          American Civil Liberties Union
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence







                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          6

          California Public Interest Research Group 
          Consumer Federation of California
          Electronic Frontier Foundation
          Gun Owners of California
          Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  5/29/12)

          Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
          California District Attorneys Association
          California Narcotic Officers' Association
          California Police Chiefs Association
          California Public Parking Association
          California State Sheriffs' Association
          Chief Probation Officers of California
          Cities of Bellflower, Beverly Hills, Lakewood, and Palmdale
          League of California Cities (initial opposition)
          Los Angeles Police Protective League
          MuniServices
          MVTrac
          Riverside Sheriffs' Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author: 

            Several private entities have "scout cars" that cruise 
            city streets, parking lots, and highways to track the 
            surrounding vehicles with LPR.  One company claims to 
            scan 40 percent of the vehicles in the country on an 
            annual basis; another says that it captures data on 50 
            million vehicles each month.  This data is sold to 
            financial institutions, repossession companies, and 
            private investigators. 

            Today, there are no regulations on this practice.  In 
            fact, LPR records can be sold to any person or 
            organization for any purpose.  This poses public safety 
            risks and threatens Californians' constitutional right to 
            privacy.

            Senate Bill 1330 establishes rules of the road for the 
            use of LPR by private entities.  Other states like New 
            Jersey and Utah have imposed regulations on LPR; Maine 
            prohibits private entities from utilizing the technology 
            altogether, and New Hampshire does not even permit law 







                                                               SB 1330
                                                                Page 
          7

            enforcement to use LPR.

          This bill is supported by the Consumer Federation of 
          California which writes that the measure will "safeguard 
          Californians' constitutional right to individual privacy by 
          reining in the use, and increasing abuse, of license-plate 
          recognition (LPR) software on both innocent and criminal 
          drivers.  . . .   Innocent Californians should not be 
          having their vehicles monitored, potentially tracked, and 
          that data stored and then sold for profit to third parties 
          like asset recovery companies and financial institutions 
          (among others) - all without their knowledge or consent."

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    The California District 
          Attorneys Association states, "Our opposition stems from 
          the fact that district attorneys presently obtain the data 
          in question without the use of a search warrant and that 
          adding a search warrant requirement is unduly burdensome.  
          Additionally, we are concerned about the requirement that 
          mandates law enforcement to notify the person whose 
          information has been disclosed unless each search warrant 
          contains a provision to the contrary.  This requirement, 
          notwithstanding the exigent circumstance provision in the 
          bill, could have the effect of jeopardizing and/or delaying 
          an ongoing criminal investigation and/or prosecution."  
           

          JJA:kc  5/29/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                ****  END  ****