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Committee weighs statewide limits on license‑plate readers amid privacy and policing concerns
Summary
House Bill 2332 would regulate automated license plate readers (ALPRs): prohibit many uses, limit retention (generally 72 hours with exceptions), and restrict sharing with third parties. Privacy, immigrant‑rights and reproductive‑rights groups supported strict limits; law enforcement and some local governments urged longer retention and operational exceptions.
Lawmakers and stakeholders spent much of Jan. 20 debating House Bill 2332, a proposed regulatory framework for automated license plate reader systems (ALPRs) used by law enforcement, parking and transportation agencies.
Sponsor Representative Usman Saladin said the bill would set statewide guardrails to protect residents from unchecked data sharing while preserving legitimate public-safety uses. "Every single day in our state, surveillance technology collects data on thousands of Washingtonians without clear rules governing how that data can be used or shared," Saladin said.
Civil‑liberties, immigrant‑rights and reproductive‑rights groups urged tight limits on retention and third‑party vendor access, noting reports that out‑of‑state actors have accessed ALPR data in ways that could undermine Washington's shield laws. Tee Sanon of the ACLU of Washington recommended shortening the 72‑hour limit and restricting interagency and vendor access to case‑by‑case sharing.
Law‑enforcement witnesses, victim advocates and many local officials warned a 72‑hour retention window would be too short for real investigations. Greg Smith, a retired officer and victim advocate, said, "72 hours is way too short. That's not long enough to do a criminal investigation," and multiple chiefs and county representatives advocated for a longer baseline (many suggested 30 days) coupled with strict access controls and audit logs.
Businesses and industry groups supported the bill's privacy goals but urged amendments to avoid unintended operational burdens. Retail and campus parking officials described routine uses for ALPRs (parking enforcement, hit‑and‑run and retail theft investigations) and asked that the bill allow appropriate access for lower‑level investigations where patterns escalate.
The bill's staff summary lists allowed purposes for law enforcement (matching plates against specified watch lists, stolen vehicles, missing persons, outstanding felony warrants and felony investigations), limited use by parking/toll agencies, prohibitions on immigration enforcement and protections for locations such as hospitals, schools and places of worship, and a general 72‑hour retention rule with enumerated exceptions.
Committee members heard a wide range of technical and constitutional concerns, including possible warrant requirements for searching historical ALPR records, cybersecurity risks from cross‑agency sharing, and the need to protect personally identifiable information while preserving an audit trail subject to public oversight.
The committee concluded the hearing on HB 2332 after extensive stakeholder testimony; sponsors and participants said they expect further amendments to reconcile privacy protections with investigatory utility.
