ACLU sues ICE over license plate information

The ACLU sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, demanding information about how the agency handles data purchased from license plate tracking databases.

ICE did not respond to Freedom of Information Act requests about what its contracts with private companies that collect license plate information give them access to and the policies and training materials governing how they use that information, the suit alleges.

“Like most other law enforcement agencies, ICE uses information obtained from license plate readers as one tool in support of its investigations. ICE conducts both criminal investigations and civil immigration enforcement investigations. ICE is not seeking to build a license plate reader database, and will not collect nor contribute any data to a national public or private database,” wrote ICE spokesperson Danielle Bennett in an emailed statement that did not comment directly on the lawsuit.

ICE completed a privacy impact assessment in 2015 which was used to create a framework for how the technology would be used, she added.

Private companies have databases containing billions of pieces of data on drivers’ license plates, including locations, collected across the nation. The companies sell access to their databases to law enforcement agencies and other private companies, according to the complaint.

ICE wrongfully withheld the requested records and exceeded the 20 business days federal agencies have to respond regarding which documents they will produce under the Freedom of Information Act, ACLU attorneys wrote in their complaint. ACLU of Northern California v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 18-CV03050 (N.D. Cal., filed May 23, 2018).

“We don’t know how frequently ICE is using these databases,” said Vasudha Talla, a staff attorney at the ACLU of San Francisco.

The information could give cities, counties, and states more information about how the data is being used and whether they wanted the technology in their communities, she said.

The city of Alameda earlier this year rejected a contract with one company that collects the data, Livermore-based Vigilant Solutions, and San Pablo postponed a contract with the company.

California and many localities across the state and nation have passed “sanctuary” ordinances that prohibit them from cooperating with or assisting federal immigration officials.

The California Supreme Court handed the ACLU a victory in a suit last year, saying that the license plate data of millions of drivers collected indiscriminately by police across the state were not investigative records that law enforcement could keep secret under the California Public Records Act. ACLU of Southern California et. al., v. County of Los Angeles et. al., S227106 (Cal. 2017).