Judge hands San Jose win in lawsuit challenging license plate reader network

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging San Jose’s network of license plate reader cameras, dealing a legal setback to opponents of a technology used to fight crime that has divided the city’s residents over fears of dragnet surveillance.

In a ruling delivered Friday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey El-Hajj rejected arguments that the city’s practice of allowing warrantless police searches of its automated license plate reader (ALPR) data — derived from a network of more than 500 devices scattered across town — violates the California Constitution’s guarantee of privacy rights and prohibition on unreasonable searches. The ruling follows the lead of an earlier decision from a California Appellate Court that found drivers have no reasonable expectation of privacy when traveling through public streets.