San Jose is tightening controls over its automated license plate reader program, as the city faces mounting public pressure over surveillance concerns and a lawsuit.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a range of new safeguards for San Jose’s network of 474 cameras, including limits on where the devices may be installed and how long license plate data may be stored. However, the measure still falls short of demands from some residents, who are calling on San Jose to follow suit with other South Bay jurisdictions and cut ties entirely with the technology’s vendor, Atlanta-based firm Flock Safety.
The issue has pitted critics of the surveillance technology — who warn it can be used to track law-abiding residents and target immigrants — against its supporters, who argue the cameras, first introduced in San Jose in 2022, have become an invaluable investigative tool for the city’s chronically short-staffed police force…