March 20, 2015 Office of Senator Jerry Hill Attn: Patrick Welch California State Capital, Room 5035 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: SB 34 Automatic License Plate Readers Privacy and Usage Standards Dear Senator Hill, Media Alliance is writing today to offer our organizational endorsement of SB 34, a bill about the treatment of data pulled from automatic license plate readers. As a 38 year old democratic communications advocate, we count among our membership many independent journalists, investigative reporters, bloggers and community activists who are deeply concerned about their personal privacy. Blanket data sweeps, such as those from automated license plate reader systems pull and store a huge amount of personally identifying information, often without a clear policy for the security and retention of that data. SB 34, without preventing law enforcement from using tools when necessary to do their job, subjects data pulled from automatic license plate readers to the same well-understood standards that apply to other collections of stored data by placing it under the jurisdiction of the California Data Breach Law, consistent with other data banks of personally identifying information collected by other means. Protecting the confidentiality and security of stored data and preventing unauthorized release and disclosure is essential to protecting Californians from identity theft and freeing them from unwarranted surveillance for the simple act of driving their vehicle from one place to another while neither suspected of nor guilty of any violation of law. As with any other transparency legislation for new technology, a clear policy that receives public input from the impacted members of the community, SB 34 protects the rights of residents suspected of no crime, supports the vulnerable including those too often unfairly targeted by law enforcement and those exercising investigative or whistle-blowing activities or exercising their First Amendment rights, and protects municipal employees and politicians from perceptions or actual incidents of inappropriate usage or disclosure that can occur when policies are unclear or absent. For all of these reasons, Media Alliance supports the passage of SB 34 as much-needed transparency legislation. Sincerely, Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director 1904 Franklin Street #818 Oakland CA 94612 (510) 832-9000 www.media-alliance.org