Community Activists Reach Settlement with Marin County Sheriff for Unlawfully Sharing Drivers’ Locations with Out-Of-State and Federal Agencies

SAN FRANCISCO—Community activists in Northern California today announced a settlement in their lawsuit against the County of Marin and Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle, whose office illegally made the license plate and location information of local drivers, captured by a network of surveillance cameras, available to hundreds of federal and out-of-state agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Under the settlement, Sheriff Doyle has agreed to stop sharing license plate and location information with agencies outside of California to comply with state laws S.B. 34 and the California Values Act (S.B. 54). This means that federal and out-of-state agencies will no longer be able to query information collected by the county’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras—a form of mass surveillance technology that is a threat to privacy and civil liberties, particularly for marginalized groups. The settlement is binding for any of Sheriff Doyle’s successors.

ALPR cameras scan tens of thousands of passing cars every month, recording their license plate number, date, time, and location. This information can be used to identify and track people, revealing where they live and work, when they visit friends or drop off their kids at school, and when and where they attend religious services or protests. When shared with ICE and CBP, the data facilitates the tracking, deportation, and incarceration of immigrant communities.

“This settlement is a victory for disfavored and marginalized people, including immigrants, who historically have been subjected to civil rights abuses through invasive surveillance by police,” said Vasudha Talla, Immigrants’ Rights Program Director at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California.