PENNSYLVANIA (WHP) — Pennsylvania Sen. Doug Mastriano announced plans to introduce legislation that would govern the use, retention, access and sharing of data from automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).
He said ALPRs are powerful tools for law enforcement that require clear safeguards and accountability.
“Public safety should not require Pennsylvanians to surrender their constitutional liberties,” Senator Mastriano said. He said law enforcement should be able to utilize these tools while ensuring innocent community members are protected from unnecessary surveillance.
Mastriano believes his legislation would support law enforcement and protect the privacy of law-abiding citizens. “We should insist on both,” he wrote.
Public safety should not require Pennsylvanians to surrender their constitutional liberties. We can give law enforcement effective tools while ensuring that innocent citizens are protected from unnecessary surveillance and misuse of their information.
While the specific details on how the legislation would do that are scarce, he’s not the only lawmaker to propose safeguards for ALPRs.
State Sen. Lisa Boscola wrote in a memo, “A recent report identified at least 50 law-enforcement officers who were charged with or accused of using license plate reader systems for unauthorized purposes.” It states, “In 26 of those cases, investigators alleged that officers used the technology to monitor wives, girlfriends, former partners, the new partners of former girlfriends, or women they wanted to meet.”
These are the reasons Boscola wrote that she plans to introduce legislation that would focus on the conduct of the individual using the data rather than the law-enforcement agency or other organization for an employee’s misconduct of resources.
Boscola wrote, “Technology can make law enforcement more effective, but public confidence in these tools depends on ensuring that access carries meaningful responsibility.”
State Sen. Daniel Laughlin, wrote in a memo that he planned to introduce legislation that would prohibit the use of Flock Safety cameras and similar ALPRs throughout Pennsylvania.
Sen. Laughlin wrote, “The concern is not simply the camera. It is the creation of a searchable network capable of tracking and reconstructing a person’s movements over time.” He said the majority of individuals captured by these cameras are not suspected of any crime.
“That is a level of surveillance that should concern everyone,” he said. “Law-abiding citizens should be able to travel throughout Pennsylvania without having their movements continuously collected and entered into a searchable database.”
This legislation would not prohibit the use of ordinary security cameras or ALPRs that record video without immediately tracking drivers’ data.