License Plate Readers

Modesto Police Illegally Shared License Plate Reader Data Since at Least 2021

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The Modesto Police Department revealed that it had been sharing license plate reader data with federal agencies in violation of California state law after we filed a public records request for agencies with whom Modesto Police shared that data. In response to our public records request for license plate reader data sharing information in February 2026, the Modesto Police Department changed its sharing configuration before providing the requested records.

California law enforcement agencies are prohibited from sharing license plate reader data with federal and out-of-state agencies under SB 34, which went into effect in 2016.

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Homeland Security

CA Preparing To Load DMV Info to National Real ID Database

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The State of California, 21 years after the original passage of the Real ID Act of 2005, and during the most dangerous federal administration seen to date, is preparing to upload state Department of Motor Vehicles data to the private Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators Database (AAMVA). The upload is expected to be authorized in the upcoming state budget.

AAMVA is a private not for profit owned by the DMV’s of the 50 states. It provides a host of data verification services to motor vehicle departments through its aamvanet system, which connects to all DMV’s and a host of federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Department of Transportation, the Selective Service and Homeland Security.

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Uncategorized

San Clemente Fights Anduril Tower Deployment

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In January, the Orange County beach town became the second inland location for Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) march up the California coast with Anduril surveillance towers. The City Council approved a lease with the Border Patrol for land on a ridge above the town for the huge tower, ostensibly for the purpose of watching the sea for incoming migrant boats, and for the whopping fee of $10. In total. While the City Council does not yet seem to have seller’s remorse, much of the town does (the tower has not yet been deployed) and a town hall meeting was held to discuss the matter. Oakland Privacy’s research director Mike Katz-Lacabe was happy to provide his expertise to the community about the equipment and its technical capabilities. Anduril Industries is Palmer Luckey’s military defense outfit and has been the primary contractor for the so-called “digital border wall” which is now creeping further and further away from the US-Mexico border.

We’re happy to bring you video of the town hall event, a copy of Mike’s presentation, and some other resources on Anduril’s northward creep.

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Data Privacy

Perspectives on Amending the Publicly Available Information Exemption of the California Privacy Rights Act

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You probably didn’t know that between 2018 and 2020, your privacy rights under California’s state privacy law took a hit when the definition of publicly available information was made a lot bigger via ballot initiative. Now, state senator Aisha Wahab from Hayward is trying to change it back to the way it used to be. Oakland Privacy intern Samuel Leitch fills us in on what publicly available information exemptions mean and why they matter.

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Data Privacy

Privacy as an Intersectional Issue

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The third legislative briefing in a 4 -webinar series by the State Privacy Coalition. Watch it here!

Featuring Jason Koebler from 404Media, Julie Mao from Just Futures Law, Minsu Longiari from Powerswitch Action and Symphoni Barbee from the ACLU, moderated by Rin Alajali at EFF.

Homeland Security

Section 702 Re-Authorization Time Again

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Ever since the Section 702 addition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 2008, privacy advocates have sought its abolition or significant reforms. Section 702 permits warrantless surveillance of the contents of the communications of Americans if one part of the communication is a non-US person.

The FISA Court has declared that “compliance problems with the FBI’s querying of Section 702 information have proven to be persistent and widespread.”

As a cherry on top, notorious immigration extremist Stephen Miller has recently been a lead advocate for a clean or unchanged Section 702 authorization.

70+ civil rights groups have once again demanded that Congress significantly reform Section 702 if it is re-authorized by (among other things) closing the backdoor search loophole, prevent the purchase of data broker information by intelligence agencies and federal law enforcement agencies, remove the expanded definition of an electronic communications service provider and add amici access and participation to FISA Court proceedings.

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