EFF pushes warrant requirement for police searches of license plate reader data

The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a detailed argument for requiring warrants before police can search stored ALPR data. The post documents extensive abuses uncovered by EFF and partners: San Jose police conducted 261,711 searches in roughly a year, averaging 692 daily. Officers nationwide have used ALPR systems to profile Romani people, monitor protesters, investigate abortions, assist immigration enforcement, retaliate against critics, and stalk romantic partners. A federal judge in Oklahoma recently agreed that such searches require a warrant. EFF acknowledges this would not eliminate mass surveillance but would add judicial oversight.

Documented ALPR abuses EFF uncovered

• 261,711 searches by San Jose PD between June 5, 2024 and June 17, 2025 — approximately 692 per day
• 80+ agencies searched Flock network using terms stereotyping Romani people; Grand Prairie TX searched for "g*psy" six times using vehicle-traveling-together identification
• 50+ agencies ran hundreds of protest-related searches in 2025; Tempe PD searched 425 networks for No Kings protest with no identified crime
• 83,000+ Flock cameras searched by a Texas sheriff's office for "had an abortion, search for female" across state lines into Washington and Illinois
• 4,000+ cases of police departments searching ALPR data on behalf of federal law enforcement for immigration investigations
• Officers logged search reasons including "LOL," "LMAO," "idk," and random keyboard mashing

Why it matters

ALPR systems create searchable location histories for nearly all drivers, and the lack of warrant requirements enables routine mass surveillance at scale. A warrant requirement would shift the oversight model from post-hoc victim discovery to pre-search judicial review, though EFF maintains cities should not deploy these systems at all.