SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) — Two civil rights nonprofits filed suit against the San Jose Police Department on Tuesday, asserting the law enforcement agency conducts warrantless searches of the records from high-speed traffic cameras in the city.
The complaint was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the America Civil Liberties Union of Northern California on behalf of two other nonprofits working in diverse communities: the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and the California contingent of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The groups argue San Jose police often violate the California Constitution by using records from automated license plate readers, or ALPRs — fast, computer-controlled cameras that capture photos of every license plate that passes — to search millions of images that include individuals’ “private habits, movements and associations” without a warrant, calling the practice “deeply invasive.” They hope to stop San Jose police from combing the database without a warrant…