A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged San Jose's network of automated license plate readers, ruling that the cameras do not violate residents' privacy rights under the California Constitution.
Judge Jeffrey El-Hajj ruled Friday in favor of the city, which operates nearly 500 Flock Safety readers that scan hundreds of millions of plates each year, KQED reported. His decision relies on a 2024 state appeals court ruling that found traffic surveillance cameras in San Diego were not an invasion of privacy.
KALW reported that the earlier decision held drivers have no reasonable expectation of privacy on public streets.
The two sides
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed the case in November 2025 on behalf of the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network. They argued the cameras and the searchable database behind them amount to mass surveillance and that police should need a warrant to search the data.
City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood said in a statement that the ruling "validates" that the city's system and its oversight meet constitutional privacy standards, and that the city aims to balance a crime-fighting tool with protection of privacy.
Andrew Crocker, the EFF's surveillance litigation director, told KQED the plaintiffs are disappointed and may appeal. He argued that only a warrant requirement, or ending the use of the readers, would prevent abuse.