A California lawsuit challenging San Jose’s use of automated license plate reader cameras is moving forward, keeping a broader privacy debate alive: When people drive on public roads, how much of their movements should the government be allowed to track?
Whatever the courts decide could influence how Bay Area communities — and others elsewhere — weigh public-safety claims against the ability to go about ordinary life without constant monitoring.
What’s happening?
According to CBS News, a Santa Clara County judge has asked both sides of a lawsuit regarding citywide surveillance cameras for additional materials before a ruling is made.
CBS News reported that San Jose’s network of nearly 500 license plate reader cameras is at the heart of the dispute. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Electronic Frontier Foundation claim, as the outlet reported, the city’s use of that system breaks a California law governing how police handle plate-reader information and also violates constitutional privacy rights…