SAN JOSE, Calif. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court accusing the city of San Jose of conducting unconstitutional surveillance through automated license plate readers without warrants or judicial oversight.
According to a press release from the ACLU of Northern California, the lawsuit challenges San Jose police officers’ access to data collected by automated license plate readers, alleging the practice amounts to warrantless searches in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution.
The automated readers capture and store images of license plates, and the ACLU said the information is collected even when there is no reasonable suspicion a crime occurred.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-California.
The ACLU argues the system violates lawful residents’ privacy rights, noting that San Jose’s program is significantly larger and retains data longer than similar programs operated by other California law enforcement agencies.
In the release, the organization cited the Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful searches, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Carpenter v. United States, which held that geolocation data is protected information, and Article I, Sections 1 and 13 of the California Constitution as legal support for the challenge.
San Francisco Bay Area Executive Director for CAIR-CA said in the release, “For Muslim communities, and for anyone who has experienced profiling, the knowledge that police can track your every move without cause is chilling. San Jose’s mass surveillance program violates the California Constitution and undermines the privacy rights of every person who drives through the city. We’re going to court to make sure those protections still mean something.”
SIREN Executive Director Huy Tran added, “The right to privacy is one of the strongest protections that our immigrant communities have in the face of these acts of violence and terrorism from the federal government… We can protect the privacy rights of our residents with one simple rule: Access to the data should only happen once approved under a judicial warrant.”
Concerns from immigrant communities have intensified as deportation efforts continue to expand federal and state policing powers. While debates over lawful search limits predate the current immigration enforcement landscape, the legality of San Jose’s warrantless surveillance system has become increasingly relevant.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
