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House
File
2556
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
2556
BY
THOMSON
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
use
of
automatic
registration
plate
1
readers,
providing
penalties,
and
including
effective
date
2
provisions.
3
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
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Section
1.
LEGISLATIVE
FINDINGS
AND
PURPOSE.
1
1.
Automatic
registration
plate
readers
enable
persistent,
2
indiscriminate,
and
suspicionless
tracking
of
persons,
3
including
their
movements,
associations,
habits,
and
locations
4
over
time.
5
2.
Continuous
or
mass
collection
of
location
data
6
implicates
reasonable
expectations
of
privacy
under
the
7
provisions
of
the
fourth
amendment
to
the
Constitution
of
the
8
United
States
and
Article
I,
section
8,
of
the
Constitution
of
9
the
State
of
Iowa,
particularly
when
aggregated.
10
3.
The
general
assembly
finds
that
bulk
location
11
surveillance
without
individualized
suspicion
is
fundamentally
12
incompatible
with
a
free
society
and
invites
misuse,
mission
13
creep,
data
breaches,
and
political
or
retaliatory
abuse.
14
4.
Less
intrusive
investigative
tools
remain
available
to
15
law
enforcement
officials
and
such
tools
respect
constitutional
16
limits
and
traditional
warrant
requirements.
17
5.
A
categorical
prohibition,
coupled
with
narrow
18
exceptions
based
on
warrant
requirements,
is
the
least
19
restrictive
means
of
protecting
Iowans’
privacy
while
20
preserving
public
safety.
21
6.
Strong
civil
remedies,
including
a
private
right
22
of
action,
are
necessary
to
deter
violations
and
provide
23
meaningful
relief.
24
Sec.
2.
NEW
SECTION
.
321Q.1
Definitions.
25
As
used
in
this
chapter:
26
1.
“Automatic
registration
plate
reader”
or
“plate
27
reader”
means
any
system,
device,
software,
or
service
that
28
automatically
captures,
analyzes,
stores,
or
transmits
images
29
of
motor
vehicle
registration
plates
or
associated
vehicle
30
characteristics,
including
date,
time,
location,
vehicle
31
movement,
travel
patterns,
or
metadata,
whether
fixed,
mobile,
32
or
cloud-based.
33
2.
“Covered
entity”
means
a
state
agency,
political
34
subdivision,
law
enforcement
agency,
public
official,
public
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employee,
contractor,
vendor,
or
private
entity
acting
on
1
behalf
of
or
in
coordination
with
a
governmental
entity.
2
3.
“Department”
means
the
state
department
of
3
transportation.
4
4.
“Plate
reader
data”
means
an
image,
record,
metadata,
5
derived
data,
or
analytic
output
generated
by
a
plate
reader.
6
5.
“Use”
means
to
acquire,
install,
operate,
access,
7
analyze,
query,
share,
sell,
retain,
or
otherwise
benefit
from
8
plate
reader
systems
or
plate
reader
data.
9
Sec.
3.
NEW
SECTION
.
321Q.2
Use
of
plate
reader
prohibited.
10
1.
A
covered
entity
shall
not
use
an
automatic
registration
11
plate
reader
for
any
purpose.
12
2.
A
covered
entity
shall
not
do
any
of
the
following:
13
a.
Use,
acquire,
or
possess
plate
reader
equipment
or
14
services.
15
b.
Contract
with
any
private
vendor
for
plate
reader
16
services.
17
c.
Use,
access,
or
receive
plate
reader
data
from
another
18
jurisdiction
or
private
party.
19
d.
Retain,
analyze,
or
share
plate
reader
data,
regardless
20
of
where
the
data
was
collected.
21
3.
This
section
preempts
a
local
ordinance
or
policy
22
authorizing
and
regulating
the
use
of
an
automatic
registration
23
plate
reader.
24
4.
A
covered
entity
that
used
an
automatic
registration
25
plate
reader
before
the
effective
date
of
this
Act
shall
remove
26
every
plate
reader
and
shall
destroy
all
plate
reader
data
not
27
later
than
thirty
days
after
the
effective
date
of
this
Act.
28
Sec.
4.
NEW
SECTION
.
321Q.3
Private
right
of
action.
29
1.
A
person
whose
vehicle,
movements,
or
data
have
been
30
collected,
accessed,
or
used
in
violation
of
section
321Q.2
31
has
standing
to
sue
the
covered
entity
who
used
an
automatic
32
registration
plate
reader,
regardless
of
whether
actual
damages
33
can
be
proven.
34
2.
A
covered
entity
that
uses
an
automatic
registration
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plate
reader
in
violation
of
section
321Q.2
is
liable
for
all
1
of
the
following
damages:
2
a.
Not
less
than
one
thousand
dollars
per
violation
per
day
3
or
actual
damages,
whichever
is
greater.
4
b.
Punitive
damages
for
willful
or
reckless
violations.
5
c.
Injunctive
and
declaratory
relief.
6
d.
Plaintiff’s
attorney
fees
and
costs.
7
3.
Sovereign
immunity,
governmental
immunity,
and
qualified
8
immunity
are
waived
for
purposes
of
actions
brought
under
this
9
section.
10
4.
Actions
may
be
brought
in
state
district
court,
with
11
venue
where
the
plaintiff
resides
or
where
the
violation
12
occurred.
13
5.
This
section
applies
to
actions
involving
plate
reader
14
use
and
data
retention
brought
on
or
after
the
effective
date
15
of
this
Act,
including
actions
based
on
the
use
or
retention
of
16
data
collected
before
the
effective
date
of
this
Act.
17
Sec.
5.
NEW
SECTION
.
321Q.4
Exclusion
and
suppression.
18
Evidence
derived
directly
or
indirectly
from
an
automatic
19
registration
plate
reader,
including
derivative
evidence,
20
is
inadmissible
in
any
criminal,
civil,
or
administrative
21
proceeding,
except
when
offered
by
a
plaintiff
as
evidence
that
22
a
violation
of
this
chapter
occurred.
23
Sec.
6.
NEW
SECTION
.
321Q.5
Enforcement
and
civil
24
penalties.
25
1.
A
covered
entity
that
violates
section
321Q.2
is
subject
26
to
a
civil
penalty
of
not
less
than
ten
thousand
dollars
per
27
violation,
to
be
collected
by
the
department
and
deposited
in
28
the
road
use
tax
fund.
29
2.
The
department
shall
adopt
rules
pursuant
to
chapter
17A
30
providing
for
escalating
penalties
for
repeated
violations.
31
3.
A
person
who
knowingly
uses
or
authorizes
unlawful
use
32
of
a
plate
reader
by
a
covered
entity
is
personally
liable
for
33
penalties
under
this
section.
34
4.
The
attorney
general
may
bring
actions
against
a
private
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entity
or
person
for
violating
section
321Q.2
and
such
action
1
shall
not
preempt
an
action
brought
by
a
person
other
than
the
2
attorney
general.
3
Sec.
7.
REPEAL.
Section
321P.4,
Code
2026,
is
repealed.
4
Sec.
8.
EFFECTIVE
DATE.
This
Act,
being
deemed
of
immediate
5
importance,
takes
effect
upon
enactment.
6
EXPLANATION
7
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
8
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
9
Under
current
law,
the
operator
of
an
automatic
registration
10
plate
reader
(plate
reader)
is
required
to
permanently
delete
11
every
image
of
a
vehicle
registration
plate
captured
by
the
12
plate
reader,
and
any
other
accompanying
data,
within
30
days
13
after
the
image
was
captured.
Prior
to
deletion
from
the
plate
14
reader,
a
law
enforcement
agency
is
authorized
to
copy
and
15
store
an
image
of
a
vehicle
registration
plate
captured
by
a
16
plate
reader,
and
any
other
accompanying
data,
if
the
image
and
17
data
are
relevant
to
an
ongoing
criminal
case
or
investigation.
18
Copies
maintained
by
a
law
enforcement
agency
are
not
required
19
to
be
deleted,
but
the
law
enforcement
agency
must
maintain
20
the
copies
in
accordance
with
the
agency’s
evidence
retention
21
policies.
A
person
who
violates
the
deletion
requirement
22
commits
a
simple
misdemeanor.
A
simple
misdemeanor
is
23
punishable
by
confinement
for
no
more
than
30
days
and
a
fine
24
of
at
least
$105
but
not
more
than
$855.
This
bill
repeals
25
these
provisions.
26
The
bill
instead
prohibits
a
state
agency,
political
27
subdivision,
law
enforcement
agency,
public
official,
public
28
employee,
contractor,
vendor,
or
private
entity
acting
on
29
behalf
of
or
in
coordination
with
a
governmental
entity
30
(covered
entities)
from
using
a
plate
reader.
31
The
bill
specifically
preempts
local
ordinances
or
policies
32
authorizing
and
regulating
the
use
of
plate
readers.
A
covered
33
entity
that
used
an
automatic
registration
plate
reader
before
34
the
bill
takes
effect
must
remove
every
plate
reader
and
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destroy
all
plate
reader
data
not
later
than
30
days
after
the
1
effective
date
of
the
bill.
2
The
bill
provides
for
a
private
right
of
action
against
3
covered
entities
that
violate
the
bill,
limits
the
4
admissibility
of
evidence
obtained
by
a
plate
reader,
and
5
provides
enforcement
provisions
and
civil
penalties.
A
person
6
who
knowingly
uses
or
authorizes
unlawful
use
of
a
plate
reader
7
by
a
covered
entity
is
personally
liable
for
penalties
under
8
the
bill,
and
the
attorney
general
may
bring
actions
against
9
such
persons.
10
The
bill
takes
effect
upon
enactment.
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