Parking garages that record drivers’ license plate numbers and store them in a “searchable database” without the driver’s consent can be sued for at least $2,500 in damages, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

California law “grants individuals the right to know which entities are collecting their ALPR (automated license plate reader) data and how it is being used and maintained,” said the 1st District Court of Appeal in a case from San Francisco.

“Collecting and maintaining individuals’ ALPR information without implementing and making public the statutorily required policy harms these individuals,” Justice Mark Simons wrote in a 3-0 ruling reversing a judge’s dismissal of a driver’s lawsuit.

The decision not only reinstated the suit by the driver, Brendan Bartholomew, but also said garages that store the information in accessible databases without asking the driver can be required to pay at least $2,500 in damages.

Bartholomew said he parked his car in a lot owned by Parking Concepts Inc. several times in 2022 and 2023 and was given a document that contained his license plate number and time of entry. When he left, after paying the fee he drove to a kiosk that lifted a barrier after showing his license number.

His lawsuit on behalf of himself and other drivers accused Parking Concepts of violating a 2015 state law that requires parking lot operators to maintain “reasonable security procedures and practices … to protect ALPR information from unauthorized access.”

Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ruled that Bartholomew had failed to show Parking
Concepts operated an ALPR system or caused harm. But the appeals court said the display of the driver’s license plate number on his parking document and the kiosk screen was evidence of an automated system.

“It is also a reasonable inference that Parking Concepts stores this computer-readable data – at least temporarily – in a searchable database,” Simons wrote. He added that drivers can show they are being harmed by a data-sharing policy without having to prove that their information was actually sent to other companies.

Lawyers for the opposing sides in the case were not immediately available for comment. Parking Concepts could seek review of the ruling in the state Supreme Court.

ALPR regulation has also been hotly debated in the state Legislature, focusing mostly on police use of automatic plate readers in patrol cars or above streets to track criminal suspects.

A bill to require police and other government agencies to delete most license plate data after 60 days and restrict officers’ use of the information, SB274 by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, was passed by the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October. In his veto message, Newsom said the bill “does not strike the delicate balance between protecting individual privacy and ensuring public safety.”

This article originally published at California drivers whose licenses were recorded by parking garages may be owed $2,500.