BILL NUMBER: S7713

SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to restricting the
use of automatic license plate reader information

 
PURPOSE:

To prevent automatic license plate reader users from selling, sharing,
allowing access, or transferring automatic license plate reader informa-
tion for purposes of investigating or enforcing a law that impedes the
right to choose or access reproductive health care services or any
lawful health care services.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section 1: Adds a new section 397-c to the General Business Law titled
"Policy for the use of automatic license plate reader systems."

Provides   definitions  of  "automatic  license  plate  reader  system,"
              

"captured plate data," "automatic license plate reader systems,"  "auto-
matic license plate reader user," and "law enforcement agency."

Prohibits  an  automatic  license plate reader (ALPR) user from selling,
sharing, allowing access to, or transferring  ALPR  information  to  any
state or local jurisdiction for purposes of investigating or enforcing a
law  that impedes the right to choose or access reproductive health care
services or any lawful health care services.

Prohibits any ALPR user in New York, including any State law enforcement
agency that uses ALPR systems, from sharing ALPR  information  with  any
out-of-state law enforcement agency without obtaining a written declara-
tion  that  the  agency shall not use the ALPR information in a way that
impedes a person's right to choose or access  reproductive  health  care
services  or  any lawful health care services. The State law enforcement
agency shall not share the ALPR information with  the  out-of-state  law
enforcement  agency  without an executed written declaration of affirma-
tion.

Stipulates that ALPR information shall be  held  confidentially  to  the
fullest extent permitted by law.

Specifies  that  the  provisions  in section 397-c shall not apply to an
electronic toll collection system or associated  transaction  system  or
any  component  thereof  that  is  operated  by  a  public authority for
purposes of imposing and collecting tolls on a roadway in the State.

  Section 2: Establishes the effective date. This act shall take  effect
on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Automated  license plate readers (ALPRs) are "high-speed, computer-cont-
rolled camera systems"  that  are  generally  placed  on  street  poles,
streetlights, highway overpasses, mobile trailers, or police cars. ALPRs
are  designed to capture driver information, including the license plate
number and the car they are driving, as  well  as  the  day,  time,  and
location.  Photographs  of  the driver and passengers may also be taken.
ALPRs capture all license plate numbers that come into view.

Once  collected,  ALPR  information  may  be  utilized by the police for
investigations, as evidence, or for other law enforcement purposes.   It
is  also  common  practice  for  law  enforcement agencies to share ALPR
information with other agencies, including out-of-state jurisdictions.'

Since the Dobbs decision, anti-abortion states have accelerated enacting
egregious abortion bans, forcing individuals to travel out of  state  to
obtain  care. Many of these individuals are unable to afford the cost of
a plane or train ticket and must drive to receive the medical care  they
need.

The  situation  has  become  even  more  dire  as states are introducing
increasingly punitive civil and criminal penalties for abortion  provid-
ers, helpers, and patients.

The  Surveillance  Technology  Oversight  Project (STOP) reported on the
pervasiveness of automated license  plate  surveillance  in  July  2023,
explaining  how  law enforcement can use ALPR data and other datasets to
identify car owners, which means that "ALPR data  can  substantiate  the
accusation  that a person is a healthcare traveler, their travel compan-
ion or healthcare provider."2

This legislation  will  help  to  protect  abortion  patients,  abortion
providers, and individuals who help abortion patients access care in New
York  by  prohibiting ALPR users from selling, sharing, allowing access,
or transferring  ALPR  information  for  purposes  of  investigating  or
enforcing  a law that impedes the right to choose or access reproductive
health care services or any lawful health care services.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth  day  after  it  shall  have
become a law.
1   Data   Driven:   What   Is  ALPR?  Electronic  Frontier  Foundation:
https://www.eff.org/pages/what-alpr
2 Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out-of-State Travel  for  Abortion  and
Gender   Affirming  Care,  Surveillance  Technology  Oversight  Project:
https://www.stopspying.org/roadblock-to-care _ftn31