 San Jose, California, has 474 cameras tracking license plates – more than enough to create a network whose primary use seems to be mass invasions of privacy rather than criminal investigations. A new lawsuit against the city reveals that from June 2024 to June 2025, the police department conducted more than 250,000 warrantless searches of its license plate database. City officials say the plate readers help solve serious crimes, including homicides, a claim the lawsuit does not dispute. But there aren't anywhere near 250,000 felonies in San Jose each year – which means those warrantless searches are being used for something else. The plaintiffs see two possibilities: 1) dragnet surveillance or 2) an outright tracking system. If it is a tracking system that San Jose wants, it has the makings of one that is truly Orwellian. The city’s cameras apparently capture data points that include “vehicle, bumper stickers with political or other messages, make, model, color, and other details, depending on the camera's position, as well as GPS coordinates and date and time information.” Even in camera-crazy, data-obsessed California, that’s pushing the envelope. What’s more, San Jose retains the data for a year, while the typical retention period in the state is 30 days. Few other jurisdictions use as many cameras, either per capita or in total. Beyond the sheer scale, it’s the level of intimacy this data represents that rankles privacy advocates. Did you go to the gym last Tuesday morning before work? Did you go out on a date Friday night – and with whom? Did you go to a worship service or political rally? Or something else? Who knows what peccadilloes lurk in the hearts of citizens? San Jose knows. Comments are closed.
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