Oregon Lawmakers Remove Privacy Safeguards From License Plate Camera Bill After Heavy Lobbying
When Oregon lawmakers agreed to remove end-to-end encryption from Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) last Friday, it left the door open for ALPR vendors to access, share, and sell private data.
According to Eyes Off Eugene, a local advocacy group dedicated to stopping the use of Flock Safety ALPRs and other forms of mass surveillance, the decision taken by lawmakers has derailed months of hard work by Senator Floyd Prozanski, D-Springfield/Eugene, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and organizers of the local advocacy group.
ALPR Vendors Convinced Lawmakers to Eliminate Wording to Protect ALPR Data
The organization states that lobbyists for ALPR vendors Flock and Axon thwarted an amendment to Senate Bill 1516, which would have established increased protections for ALPR data.
After SB 1516 was passed on February 20 with a unanimous 27-0 vote, lobbyists appeared to have convinced the Senate Judiciary Committee to eliminate “end-to-end encryption” from the wording contained in the bill.
As Eyes Off Eugene explains, end-to-end encryption ensures that only law enforcement agencies that own ALPR data can decrypt the information, and access, or grant access to captured license plate information.
| Topic | What SB 1516 says |
|---|---|
| Retention limit | Keep captured plate data no more than 30 days unless tied to an ongoing criminal investigation or court proceeding. |
| Vendor access | ALPR vendors are prohibited from accessing, selling, or disclosing captured plate data. |
| Audit transparency | Audit results must be published within two days, either on the agency website or via direct public access from the vendor. |
| Security baseline | Vendor contract terms must align with the current FBI CJIS Security Policy, including audit rights and incident notifications. |
| Enforcement | Allows civil penalties for intentional or grossly negligent violations and authorizes civil actions for violations. |
The advocacy group says it is “extremely skeptical” about the decision and believes that there is “a mountain of evidence” of the risks associated with granting mass surveillance powers to any form of law enforcement.
The Bill is a Love Letter to the ALPR Vendor
Eyes Off Eugene describes the bill as it is now written as a “love letter to Flock,” which will further entrench the vendor in Oregon.
Due to vulnerabilities in the system, contracts with Flock were recently ended by Eugene, Springfield, and Bend police departments.
A Mass-Tracking Surveillance Operation Has Been Created
The Flock Safety ALPR network of mounted cameras now incorporates over 4,000 communities, capturing billions of plate images every month.
Source: Associated Press reporting on Flock network scale; KLCC on Eugene removals; KTVZ on Bend contract details
Dailytidings.com
This has raised criticism of a system that civil liberty groups say creates a mass-tracking surveillance operation.