HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers voted Monday to restrict government use of automated license plate readers, advancing legislation that would require agencies to delete most vehicle-tracking data within 72 hours and prohibit its sale or sharing as surveillance cameras become increasingly common across the state.
House Bill 2771, sponsored by state Rep. Jennifer O’Mara, a Delaware County Democrat, passed the House with bipartisan support and now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The legislation would establish statewide restrictions on automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, including systems manufactured by Flock Safety. The cameras capture images of vehicles and license plates, allowing agencies to collect and search vehicle-location information.
Under the proposal, government agencies could use the technology only for specified purposes: law enforcement activities, including criminal investigations; certain parking enforcement functions; and controlling access to secured areas.
The bill would also require agencies to destroy captured data within 72 hours unless the information is relevant to an investigation or enforcement matter.
Additional provisions would prohibit the sale, trade and sharing of collected data and require agencies to establish policies covering audits, employee screening and training.
The restrictions would impose new limits on how government agencies collect, retain and distribute information obtained through automated vehicle surveillance.
O’Mara said the legislation is intended to address privacy concerns arising from the expansion of license plate recognition systems and the absence of statewide regulation governing their use.
“Although a useful tool for law enforcement, the use of these readers is currently unregulated, which presents significant privacy concerns for motorists,” O’Mara said.
Automated license plate readers have expanded across the country as law enforcement agencies adopt systems capable of recording vehicle movements and making information available through searchable databases.
Flock Safety, founded in 2017, is among the companies supplying the technology.
Nearly 4,000 automated license plate readers are known to be operating in Pennsylvania, according to figures cited by O’Mara’s office.
The American Civil Liberties Union ranks Pennsylvania ninth nationally in the number of documented license plate readers, underscoring the scale of the technology’s deployment.
The proposed restrictions would preserve specified law enforcement and security uses while limiting routine retention and distribution of data collected from motorists who are not connected to an investigation or enforcement matter.
The legislation would also require agencies to adopt internal oversight procedures, including audits and employee training, to govern access to the systems and their records.
The House vote advances one of Pennsylvania’s legislative responses to concerns about automated surveillance and the use of vehicle-location information.
House Bill 2771 must receive Senate approval and be signed into law before its proposed restrictions could take effect.
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