Digital rights groups argue cameras used to unconstitutionally surveil locals

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) are suing the City of San Jose and its police department over alleged abuses of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology.

The lawsuit [PDF], brought on behalf of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations – California (CAIR-CA), alleges that the city police department's use of ALPR affords it invasive capabilities to track an individual's location.

It cited the police department's 261,711 "warrantless searches" of its ALPR database between June 2024 and 2025 and how the city does not require any suspicion of wrongdoing before carrying out these searches as one of the reasons for the legal challenge.

The digital rights group further argued that those who regularly drive through areas overseen by the 474 ALPR cameras across the city are exposed to the potential for ...