![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791258971_42_GETTYIMAGES-2265184865-KQED.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA judge dismissed a lawsuit against San Jos\u00e9 over its massive network of automated license plate readers. <\/p>\n
Oct 5, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 4:34 pm PT<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Flock Safety license plate recognition camera is seen near the intersection of Marine Street and Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder on March 5, 2026.\u00a0(Matthew Jonas\/MediaNews Group\/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
A Santa Clara County judge has dismissed a lawsuit<\/a> challenging San Jos\u00e9\u2019s massive license plate reader network, dealing a major blow to advocates for privacy and civil liberties.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a ruling on Friday, Judge Jeffrey El-Hajj said that the city\u2019s arsenal of nearly 500<\/a> Flock automated license plate readers, which scan hundreds of millions of plates every year, does not violate people\u2019s right to privacy, as the lawsuit alleged.<\/p>\n El-Hajj\u2019s ruling leans on a decision from a state appeals court in 2024 that said a set of traffic surveillance cameras in San Diego was not an invasion of privacy. The decision this month sides with San Jos\u00e9, which argued in a January filing that the lawsuit didn\u2019t have a firm enough legal footing to continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are pleased with the court\u2019s decision as it validates that the city\u2019s deployment and oversight of its ALPR system meets required constitutional privacy standards,\u201d City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood said in an emailed statement on Monday.<\/p>\n In November 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed the lawsuit on behalf of the California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, known as CAIR-CA, and the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, known as SIREN.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lawsuit said the city\u2019s nearly 500 license plate readers and its searchable AI-powered database that stores plate and car information for a month amount to a \u201cdeeply invasive\u201d mass surveillance system that violates residents\u2019 rights to privacy under the California Constitution. The group argued that a warrant should be required before such searches could take place.<\/p>\n When the lawsuit was first filed, San Jos\u00e9 was keeping that information for a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Crocker, the surveillance litigation director for the EFF, said the group is disappointed in the ruling and that the plaintiffs may file an appeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re considering all our options about how to proceed in this case, but we think that the tide is turning against ALPRs both in the courts and in just public sentiment around the country,\u201d Crocker said Monday. \u201cWe can see folks objecting to existing ALPR networks and trying to block them being further expanded.\u201d<\/p>\n In the wake of that revelation, Mayor Matt Mahan said he\u2019ll petition state lawmakers to make it a crime to abuse such systems. Mahan and Vice Mayor Pam Foley also put forth a proposal to beef up audits of police searches and tighten restrictions<\/a> on how police can access the database, barring them from using personal devices.<\/p>\n The city has also reduced the amount of time it retains license plate and car information from one year to 30 days, and has barred the cameras from recording outside places of worship, reproductive health clinics and other sensitive locations, officials said.<\/p>\n Crocker said the restrictions don\u2019t go nearly far enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cClearly these cities are recognizing there\u2019s a problem, and I don\u2019t think that restrictions like this are going to solve that problem. Really any use of ALPRs is harmful, and the only way to stop the risk of this kind of abuse is to end their use in these cities,\u201d Crocker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShort of that, they could get a warrant, they could go before a court and present probable cause to run these searches, which is what we\u2019re seeking in this lawsuit,\u201d he said. \u201cSan Jos\u00e9 has not done that. San Francisco has not done that. So it\u2019s insufficient, and it\u2019s very likely that we will see further abuse of these systems.\u201d<\/p>\n Alcala Wood said the city\u2019s use of the readers seeks \u201cto balance the use of a significant crime detection and community safety tool with stringent protection of individual privacy rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791258973_279_260402-FLOCK-SECURITY-CAMERA-FILE-MD-02-KQED_1.jpg\")
A Flock camera monitors the intersection at McKee Road and North White Road in San Jos\u00e9 on April 2, 2026.\u00a0(Martin do Nascimento\/KQED)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791258974_555_SAN-JOSE-LICENSE-PLATE-READERS-11-KQED.jpg\")
A Flock Safety worker holds up a new automated license plate reader that was being installed in East San Jos\u00e9 on April 23, 2024.\u00a0(Joseph Geha\/KQED)<\/p>\n