Remind the California Senate: Privacy Is an Inalienable Right
Forty-five years ago, Californians voted to amend the state’s Constitution to make pursuing and obtaining privacy an “inalienable right.” The amendment was explicitly intended to protect the public from computerized, mass surveillance by government and businesses.
Tell the California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee to support S.B. 712 to allow California drivers to defend their privacy from surveillance by automated license plate readers.
Today, our privacy is being violated everyday by police and private use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), which collect travel pattern data on every driver, regardless of whether they’re suspected of being connected to a crime.
To address these invasions of privacy, EFF and Sen. Joel Anderson have introduced S.B. 712: a bill that would simply allow drivers to cover their license plates when their vehicles are lawfully parked—blocking ALPR vehicles that are winding up and down our roads from mining our travel data. It is already lawful to cover an entire parked vehicle, including the plate, with a tarp, to protect it from the elements. The committee will consider the legislation on Tuesday.
The law enforcement community is pushing back hard, telling legislators that “individual privacy concerns should not trump public safety.” This position does not reflect California values or their obligations as public officials. It also ignores how, as a byproduct of ALPR data collection, our travel patterns are being sold to lenders, insurance companies, and debt collectors.
Tweet at these committee members today to remind them that their obligation is to protect the public’s constitutional right to privacy.
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