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Re EFF, ACLU Win Court Ruling That Police Can't Keep License Plate Data Secret

From: "Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2017 09:18:11 -0400



Begin forwarded message:


From: Dan Gillmor <dan () gillmor com>
Date: September 1, 2017 at 9:03:58 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re EFF, ACLU Win Court Ruling That Police Can't Keep License Plate Data Secret

I hope this will have a positive result. Once the information is public,
people are going to be furious and demand that police stop collecting it
in the first place.


On 08/31/2017 07:44 PM, Dave Farber wrote:



Begin forwarded message:


*From:* Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com <mailto:mary.shaw () gmail com>>
*Date:* August 31, 2017 at 6:05:33 PM EDT
*To:* Dave Farber <dave () farber net <mailto:dave () farber net>>
*Subject:* *Re: [IP] EFF, ACLU Win Court Ruling That Police Can't Keep
License Plate Data Secret*

Oh, great!  Another layer of privacy protection eliminated.  Next step
is to monetize the results -- I've already heard of town councils
saying they want to use the data to identify drivers who go through
their town regularly so they can target them with ads for local
businesses.

Why aren't we demanding immediate (24-hour?) deletion of all public
surveillance information that is not needed for a specific
investigation.  That's the only way it won't be abused.  Plus, if it's
needed for a specific investigation, there should be a warrant showing
why it's needed.

Mary Shaw

On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 3:59 PM, DAVID FARBER <dfarber () me com
<mailto:dfarber () me com>> wrote:




   Begin forwarded message:


   *From:* EFF Press <press () eff org <mailto:press () eff org>>
   *Date:* August 31, 2017 at 3:58:04 PM EDT
   *To:* dfarber () me com <mailto:dfarber () me com>
   *Subject:* *EFF, ACLU Win Court Ruling That Police Can't Keep
   License Plate Data Secret*
   *Reply-To:* EFF Press <press () eff org <mailto:press () eff org>>



   This is a friendly message from the Electronic Frontier
   Foundation. View it in a web browser
   <https://supporters.eff.org/civicrm/mailing/view?reset=1&id=2403>.



   Electronic Frontier Foundation <https://www.eff.org/>


       for immediate release: thursday, august 31, 2017

   Contact:
   Jennifer Lynch
   Senior Staff Attorney
   jlynch () eff org <mailto:jlynch () eff org>
   +1 415-436-9333 x136 <tel:%28415%29%20436-9333>

   David Colker
   ACLU SoCal Press & Communications Strategist
   DColker () ACLUSOCAL org <mailto:DColker () ACLUSOCAL org>
   +1 213-977-5242 <tel:%28213%29%20977-5242> office
   +1 626-755-4129 <tel:%28626%29%20755-4129> cell




         Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU Win Court Ruling That
         Police Can't Keep License Plate Data Secret


         Police Have Collected Data on Millions of Law-Abiding
         Drivers Via License Readers

   SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA—The Electronic Frontier Foundation
   (EFF) and the ACLU won a decision
   <https://www.eff.org/document/aclu-v-la-superior-court-ca-supreme-court-opinion>
   by the California Supreme Court that the license plate data of
   millions of law-abiding drivers, collected indiscriminately by
   police across the state, are not “investigative records” that law
   enforcement can keep secret. 

   California’s highest court ruled that the collection of license
   plate data isn’t targeted at any particular crime, so the records
   couldn’t be considered part of a police investigation. 

   “This is a big win for transparency in California,” attorney
   Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the ACLU of
   Southern California <https://www.aclusocal.org/>, which joined
   EFF in a lawsuit
   <https://www.eff.org/document/eff-aclu-southern-california-license-plate-readers-opening-brief>
   over the records.  “The California Supreme Court recognized that
   California’s sweeping public records exemption for police
   investigations doesn’t cover mass collection of data by police,
   like the automated scanning of license plates in this case. The
   court also recognized that mere speculation by police on the
   harms that might result from releasing information can’t defeat
   the public’s strong interest in understanding how police
   surveillance impacts privacy."

   The ruling sets a precedent that mass, indiscriminate data
   collection by the police can’t be withheld just because the
   information may contain some criminal data. This is important
   because police are increasingly using technology tools to surveil
   and collect data on citizens, whether it’s via body cameras,
   facial recognition cameras, or license plate readers.

   The panel sent the case back to the trial court to determine
   whether the data can be made public in a redacted
   or anonymized form so drivers’ privacy is protected.

   “The court recognized the huge privacy implications of this
   data collection,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer
   Lynch. “Location data like this, that’s collected on innocent
   drivers, reveals sensitive information about where they have
   been and when, whether that’s their home, their doctor’s office,
   or their house of worship.”

   Automated License Plate Readers or ALPRs
   <https://www.eff.org/sls/tech/automated-license-plate-readers%20/t%20_blank> are
   high-speed cameras mounted on light poles and police cars that
   continuously scan the plates of every passing car. They collect
   not only the license plate number but also the time, date, and
   location of each plate scanned, along with a photograph of the
   vehicle and sometimes its occupants. The Los Angeles Police
   Department (LAPD) and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
   (LASD) collect, on average, three million plate scans every week
   and have amassed a database of half a billion records.

   EFF filed public records requests for a week’s worth of ALPR data
   from the agencies and, along with American Civil Liberties
   Union-SoCal, sued
   
<https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-and-aclu-sue-la-law-enforcement-agencies-over-license-plate-reader-records>
 after
   both agencies refused to release the records.

   EFF and ACLU SoCal asked
   
<https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-aclu-ask-california-supreme-court-order-release-los-angeles-license-plate-reader>
 the
   state supreme court to overturn a lower court ruling
   <https://www.eff.org/document/california-court-appeal-opinion-license-plate-reader-case%20/t%20_blank> in
   the case that said all license plate
   data—collected indiscriminately and without suspicion that the
   vehicle or driver was involved in a crime—could be withheld from
   disclosure as “records of law enforcement investigations.”

   EFF and the ACLU SoCal argued the ruling was tantamount to
   saying all drivers in Los Angeles are under criminal
   investigation at all times. The ruling would also have set a
   dangerous precedent, allowing law enforcement agencies
   to withhold from the public all kinds of information gathered on
   innocent Californians merely by claiming it was collected for
   investigative purposes.

   EFF and ACLU SoCal will continue fighting for transparency and
   privacy as the trial court considers how to provide public access
   to the records so this highly intrusive data collection can be
   scrutinized and better understood.


   For this release:
   
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/electronic-frontier-foundation-aclu-win-court-ruling-police-cant-keep-license-plate
   
<https://www.eff.org/press/releases/electronic-frontier-foundation-aclu-win-court-ruling-police-cant-keep-license-plate>

   For the opinion:
   https://www.eff.org/document/aclu-v-la-superior-court-ca-supreme-court-opinion
   <https://www.eff.org/document/aclu-v-la-superior-court-ca-supreme-court-opinion>

   For more on this case:
    https://www.eff.org/cases/automated-license-plate-readers-aclu-eff-v-lapd-lasd
   <https://www.eff.org/cases/automated-license-plate-readers-aclu-eff-v-lapd-lasd>





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-- 
Dan Gillmor
dangillmor.com/about
+1.650.868.7528
+1.650.353.2928
(Signal messaging works on both.)




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