It\u2019s already illegal<\/a> in California for local law enforcement agencies to share information gleaned from license plate readers with federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a warrant. <\/p>\n But after a summer of ramped-up deportations, the county supervisors decided to impose more transparency on who\u2019s requesting license plate data from the Sheriff\u2019s Department \u2014 and when the agency provides it.<\/p>\n The change will create a clear policy that the data cannot be \u201cdisclosed, transferred, or otherwise made available\u201d to immigration officials except when \u201cexpressly required\u201d by law or if they have a warrant.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a place like Los Angeles County, where residents depend on cars for nearly every aspect of daily life, people must feel safe traveling from place to place without fear that their movements are being tracked, stored, and shared in ways that violate their privacy,\u201d the motion states.<\/p>\n Supervisor Kathryn Barger cast the sole no vote. Helen Chavez, a spokesperson for Barger, said the supervisor voted against the motion because it calls for the county to support a bill<\/a> that would limit the amount of time law enforcement can keep most license plate data to 60 days. Law enforcement has opposed that bill, she said. <\/p>\n Across the country, law enforcement<\/a> agencies use cameras to collect data on millions of vehicles, poring over the records for clues to help find stolen vehicles, crime suspects or missing persons.<\/p>\n A sheriff deputy\u2019s patrol car is equipped with a license plate scanner. The plate numbers are instantaneously processed and if the registered vehicle owners are wanted for felonies or certain types of misdemeanors, if they are registered sex or arson offenders or if an Amber Alert has been issued, an alarm will sound to alert the officer.<\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department said in a statement it has roughly 366 fixed licensed plate readers from Motorola Vigilant and 476 from Flock Safety in contract cities and unincorporated areas. An additional 89 mobile systems from Motorola are mounted on vehicles that patrol these areas.<\/p>\n The department said its policy already prohibits it from sharing data from plate readers, known as ALPR, with any entity that \u201cdoes not have a lawful purpose for receiving it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLASD shares ALPR data with other law enforcement agencies only under an executed inter-agency agreement, which requires all parties to collect, access, use, and disclose the data in compliance with applicable law,\u201d the statement read. \u201cLASD has no current agreements for ALPR data sharing with any federal agency.\u201d<\/p>\n Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that the agency has multiple resources at its \u201cfingertips to ensure federal law is enforced in Los Angeles, and throughout the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese sanctuary politicians\u2019 efforts to stop the Sheriff\u2019s Department from cooperating with ICE are reckless and will not deter ICE from enforcing the law,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n Southern California law enforcement departments \u2014 including LAPD and authorities in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties \u2014 have been accused of routinely flouting state law by sharing license plate data with federal agents. A recent report from CalMatters<\/a> cited records obtained by the anti-surveillance group Oakland Privacy that showed more than 100 instances in a single month when local police queried databases for federal agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you collect this data, it\u2019s really hard to control,\u201d said Catherine Crump, director<\/a> of UC Berkeley\u2019s Technology & Public Policy Clinic. \u201cIt\u2019s no different from once you share your data with Meta or Google, they\u2019re going to repackage your data and sell it to advertisers and you don\u2019t have any idea which of the advertising companies have your data.\u201d<\/p>\n Even with the board cracking down on data sharing, advocates say it\u2019s nearly impossible to ensure federal agents are barred from license plate data in L.A. County.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n