Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) has issued an
opinion that limits the use of police license-plate cameras, a decision likely to force departments across the state to restrict how they track cars on Virginia’s roads.
The cameras, which are affixed to cruisers and roadside poles, photograph license plates of passing cars and are increasingly used by law-enforcement agencies nationwide. At issue in Virginia is under what circumstances the photos violate the privacy rights of drivers whose movements are captured and recorded.
Cuccinelli wrote that when there is an immediate threat to public safety, police can use the license-plate readers to look for a car.
But “passive” collection of the data, such as keeping the cameras on during routine patrol, archiving every license plate along the way, is not lawful, he said.
