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Half Moon Bay council hears privacy concerns as automated license-plate reader pilot runs
Summary
City staff updated the council on a 16-camera ALPR pilot administered by the sheriff's office and said the vendor will provide a transparency portal; public commenters raised ACLU-style privacy concerns and cited recent Mountain View disclosures about unauthorized searches of ALPR data.
Half Moon Bay city staff told the council that a 16-unit automated license-plate reader (ALPR) pilot — deployed at seven intersections and administered by the San Mateo County sheriff's office — is now active and that the vendor (Flock) will provide a transparency portal for community review.
Staff said the sheriff's office controls access to the ALPR data and that county personnel and attorneys are meeting with city officials to review data-access policies and mitigation steps. The city said it will schedule a follow-up session with elected officials, county supervisors and legal staff to determine whether to continue, modify or end the pilot.
During public comment, a resident quoted an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer calling ALPR technology a "mass surveillance dragnet" that collects data on anyone who passes a camera and is difficult to control once collected. The speaker urged the council not to enable the devices, citing recent disclosures in Mountain View that its police department had inadvertently allowed unauthorized agencies to query ALPR data for more than a year.
City staff responded in the meeting that they have heard the concerns and are taking steps to ensure appropriate safeguards. No council action to change the pilot was taken at the meeting; staff said they will report back after the county and sheriff review their policies and the planned follow-up meetings take place.
What happens next: staff will coordinate the intended follow-up meeting with the sheriff's office, county supervisors and legal counsel and will return to council with findings and recommended next steps for public discussion.
