NYS lawmakers look to regulate Flock automated license plate readers

ALBANY — State legislators are wrestling with how they should regulate automatic license plate readers like those deployed by Flock Safety amid growing concerns around privacy and data collection.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle made it clear at a hearing Monday they have concerns about how the technology is being used. But they also are balancing law enforcement’s reliance on the tool.

Recent public awareness about the widespread use of automated license plate readers has generated blowback, including vandalism against the cameras nationally and on Long Island. Flock has deployed cameras at more than 700 locations on Long Island, Newsday has previously reported.

The state currently has no minimum standards governing data collection, retention and use for automated license plate readers, known as ALPR, said Assemb. Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows), chair of the committee on consumer affairs and protection.

She said she didn’t believe the state should leave the protection of New Yorkers' information entirely to individual law enforcement agencies or private companies. As the state debates how to regulate the technology, some local governments are considering their own measures. Last week, a Southold councilwoman urged the town to end its agreement with Flock Safety.

"The question before us today is not simply whether ALPR technology works or whether it can improve public safety ... it is whether the safeguards governing its use have kept pace with the technology itself," she said.

Automatic license plate readers use cameras and computer software to capture the license plate number of a vehicle, as well as its color, make, model and other physical characteristics. The technology allows law enforcement to use the data to place suspects in the vicinity of crimes, and has been used to locate missing kids and seniors. But critics point to varying rules on how long the data is stored, rules around access to it and the aggregation of data. There have also been instances when law enforcement officers have abused the searches.

State legislators have already introduced several bills to regulate how agencies that rely on the cameras can use them and store data from the readers.

One bill, which the New York Civil Liberties Union helped draft, would restrict the usage of the readers to felony investigations and locating stolen vehicles and missing persons.

The legislation would also prohibit data sharing outside of New York State and would only allow the data generated from the cameras to be held for 48 hours unless it was being used as evidence.

"This is essential because ALPRs are an indiscriminate surveillance infrastructure that collects data on everyone, that has been used to spy on people's lawful activities, that has been used to stalk people, and that has resulted in mission creep," said Daniel Schwarz, a senior privacy and technology strategist with the NYCLU, told lawmakers.

The state attorney general’s office told legislators it also supports regulating license plate readers.

Tyler Nims, of the attorney general’s Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office, said lawmakers should look at limits on how long data can be retained and lay out definitions for which types of investigations can use data from the readers. Any legislation should also touch on limits on data sharing, audits of how agencies use the cameras, data security and penalties for violating the law.

Nims said the attorney general’s office had not settled on how long it believed license plate reader data should be retained.

And Nims said he believed any state legislation regulating license plate reader usage should be the minimum for limits, rather than the maximum, so communities could have "stronger safeguards."

During Monday’s testimony, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said the license plate readers are a valuable tool for law enforcement and urged lawmakers to not ban access to them.

"Instead of bowing to the media and public scrutiny and framing the issue before us as whether law enforcement should have access to ALPR systems at all, I instead ask you to only consider how this technology can be used responsibly, with appropriate safeguards, accountability, and oversight in place to minimize misuse," he said.

Tierney shared the story of how the cameras helped police last year when a teenager stole a running car that had a child strapped in the backseat.

He also cautioned lawmakers on placing overly severe restrictions on how long agencies can keep data from the license plate readers. Tierney noted that might jeopardize longer term investigations that could be aided by a license plate reader, such as a murder.

Assemb. Ari Brown (R-Cedarhurst) said he supports law enforcement’s efforts but believes the license plate readers raise constitutional questions.

"I want our police officers catching criminals, not our government creating a permanent record of the movement of innocent citizens," he said.