Civil rights groups sue Westchester County over license plate reader surveillance system
A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a class-action lawsuit against Westchester County, New York, seeking to halt operation of nearly 600 license plate readers that have collected 1.6 billion vehicle scans. The lawsuit argues the system violates the state constitution by conducting warrantless surveillance without proper authorization and sharing data with over 50 law enforcement agencies including ICE. The case is part of a broader legal challenge to surveillance technologies as courts reconsider privacy doctrines in the digital age.
Civil rights groups including the Policing Project at NYU School of Law, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit against Westchester County to halt its license plate reader network. The system comprises nearly 600 cameras that have accumulated 1.6 billion plate scans and shared data with over 50 external law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The complaint alleges the county operated the program without legislative authorization and without transparency or accountability, tracking the daily movements and travel patterns of millions of law-abiding drivers. Named plaintiffs include four women whose vehicles were captured thousands of times—one plaintiff's vehicle was recorded over 2,400 times. The lawsuit reflects growing national controversy over license plate reader programs, with other municipalities restricting data sharing with federal agencies and some canceling contracts following public concerns about immigration enforcement.
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- The IndependentLeft
‘Indiscriminate surveillance’ lawsuit claims 1.6 billion car scans tracking millions of drivers
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