Driver privacy

AN ACT Relating to driver privacy protections and automated 1
license plate reader systems; adding a new chapter to Title 10 RCW; 2
prescribing penalties; and declaring an emergency. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. INTENT. The legislature finds that it 5
plays an important role balancing the need to ensure public safety 6
and an individual's right to privacy under both the federal Fourth 7
Amendment to the United States Constitution and the broader 8
protection of individual rights guaranteed by Article I, section 7 of 9
the Washington state Constitution.10
The legislature further finds that the dramatic expansion of 11
surveillance technology across the country has demonstrated the need 12
to establish sensible guardrails on the use of surveillance data 13
collected from monitoring the location and travel of individuals, 14
without a warrant, to ensure its use by law enforcement and other 15
government agencies must not come into conflict with existing 16
protections for Washingtonians and ensure that it is not being used 17
for purposes prohibited under state and federal law.18
H-2753.1
HOUSE BILL 2332
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Salahuddin, Farivar, Berry, Mena, Ramel, Reed,
Zahn, Fitzgibbon, Stearns, Callan, Kloba, Ryu, Stonier, Gregerson,
Ormsby, Berg, Taylor, Fosse, Bergquist, and Pollet
Prefiled 01/08/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Civil Rights & Judiciary.
p. 1 HB 2332
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this 1
section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly 2
requires otherwise.3
(1) "Agency" includes all state agencies and all local agencies.4
(2) "Audit trail" means all records of queries and responses in 5
an automated license plate reader system, and all records of actions 6
in which system data is accessed, entered, updated, shared, or 7
disseminated, including the: 8
(a) Location of cameras used as part of the automated license 9
plate reader system; 10
(b) Date and time of access; 11
(c) Data elements used to query the automated license plate 12
reader system; 13
(d) Specific purpose for accessing or querying the automated 14
license plate reader system, including the offense type for any 15
criminal investigation; 16
(e) Associated call for service or case number; and17
(f) Username of the person or persons who accessed or queried the 18
system. 19
(3) "Audit trail data" means all forms of data collected or 20
generated by an automated license plate reader system for purposes of 21
producing an audit trail. 22
(4) "Automated license plate reader data" means all data 23
collected by automated license plate reader systems including, but 24
not limited to, global positioning system coordinates, location, date 25
and time, speed of travel, photograph, license plate number, 26
automobile characteristics, or other identifying information.27
(5) "Automated license plate reader system" or "ALPR" means a 28
system, software, or computer algorithm, whether used independently 29
or in combination with one or more mobile or fixed automated cameras, 30
that is used to convert images of license plates into computer-31
readable data. An ALPR excludes automated traffic safety cameras that 32
do not interface or interact with an ALPR system. 33
(6) "Court order," "warrant," or "subpoena" means a court order 34
as defined in RCW 43.17.420. 35
(7) "Law enforcement agency" has the same meaning as in RCW 36
10.116.010. 37
(8) "Local agency" includes every county, city, town, municipal 38
corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, special purpose district, 39
local housing authorities, or any office, department, division, 40
p. 2 HB 2332
bureau, board, commission, or agency thereof, or other local public 1
agency including their respective employees and agents.2
(9) "State agency" includes every state office, department, 3
division, bureau, board, commission, or other state agency, and their 4
respective employees and agents. 5
(10) "Watch list" means a list of license plate numbers to be 6
compared against a license plate number obtained from an automated 7
license plate reader system. 8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. OPERATION. (1) Except as provided for in 9
this section, it is unlawful for any agency to access, operate, or 10
use an automated license plate reader system or its associated 11
automated license plate reader data.12
(2) An agency may access, operate, or use an automated license 13
plate reader system and its associated data only for the following 14
authorized purposes: 15
(a) Any law enforcement agency may use an automated license plate 16
reader system for the purpose of comparing captured automated license 17
plate reader data with: 18
(i) Data on any of the following watch lists maintained by either 19
a federal or Washington state agency: The department of licensing, 20
the state criminal justice information system, the federal bureau of 21
investigation kidnappings and missing persons list, and the 22
Washington missing persons list; or 23
(ii) License plate numbers that have been manually entered into a 24
state or local automated license plate reader system database, upon 25
an officer's determination that the license plate numbers are 26
relevant and material to an investigation of a vehicle that is:27
(A) Stolen; 28
(B) Associated with a missing or endangered person;29
(C) Registered to an individual for whom there is an outstanding 30
felony warrant; or 31
(D) Related to or involved in a felony. 32
(b) Any parking enforcement agency may use an automated license 33
plate reader system for the following purposes: 34
(i) Enforcing time restrictions on the use of parking spaces; or35
(ii) Identifying vehicles on a watch list for impoundment or 36
immobilization under a local ordinance enacted under RCW 46.55.240, 37
provided the list includes only license plates of vehicles subject to 38
that ordinance. 39
p. 3 HB 2332
(c) An automated license plate reader system may be used as a 1
component of photo toll systems authorized by RCW 47.56.795 or 2
47.46.105. 3
(d) Any transportation agency may use an automated license plate 4
reader system for the following purposes: 5
(i) Providing real-time traffic information to the public, 6
traffic modeling, and traffic studies such as determining 7
construction delays and route use; and 8
(ii) Enforcing commercial vehicle systems at Washington state 9
patrol enforcement sites and weigh stations. 10
(3) It is unlawful for any agency, as described in RCW 43.17.425, 11
to use an automated license plate reader system for immigration 12
investigation or enforcement, or both, in accordance with RCW 13
10.93.160, or for any protected health care services under chapter 14
7.115 RCW, or to track or otherwise monitor activity protected by the 15
Washington state Constitution and the first amendment to the United 16
States Constitution. 17
(4) It is unlawful for any agency to collect automated license 18
plate reader data on the premises or immediate surroundings or access 19
to or from facilities that provide protected health care, as 20
described in chapter 7.115 RCW, or at facilities conducting an 21
immigration matter as defined in RCW 19.154.020, schools, places of 22
worship, courts, or food banks. 23
(5)(a) Any agency that intends to use, or currently uses an ALPR 24
system as of the effective date of this section and intends to 25
continue using the system, shall register it with the office of the 26
attorney general on forms approved by the office for that purpose 27
within 180 days of the effective date of this section. The head of 28
the agency shall certify that the system meets all the requirements 29
of this chapter, and that the agency has a policy or policies in 30
effect governing its use and a documented training process for the 31
officers that will use it. Agencies may not use ALPR systems that 32
have not been properly registered under this section.33
(6) A positive match by an automated license plate reader system 34
alone does not constitute reasonable suspicion as grounds for a state 35
or local law enforcement officer to stop the vehicle. The officer 36
shall develop independent reasonable suspicion for the stop or 37
immediately confirm visually that the license plate on the vehicle 38
matches the image of the license plate displayed on the automated 39
license plate reader system and confirm by other means that the 40
p. 4 HB 2332
license plate number is on one of the lists specified in subsection 1
(2)(a) of this section. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. RETENTION. Automated license plate reader 3
data collected by or on behalf of an agency, as authorized pursuant 4
to section 3 (2) of this act, shall not be used or shared for any 5
other purpose and shall not be retained longer than 72 hours, with 6
the following exceptions:7
(1) When retained pursuant to a valid, court-issued, probable 8
cause felony warrant or subpoena, provided the data is deleted at the 9
conclusion of the criminal or civil case. ALPR data may be shared in 10
discovery in accordance with applicable court rules;11
(2) When retained for the purpose of parking enforcement, 12
provided the data is deleted no later than 12 hours after collection;13
(3) When retained for the purpose of toll collection, for as long 14
as such captured ALPR data is needed to support the assessment and 15
collection of a toll pursuant to section 3(2)(c) of this act;16
(4) When retained for the purpose of traffic studies, provided 17
the data is deleted no later than 30 days after collection;18
(5) When retained for the purpose of enforcing commercial vehicle 19
systems, provided the data is deleted no later than four hours after 20
collection; and 21
(6) When retained for the purpose in section 3 (2)(a) of this act 22
for as long as such captured ALPR data is needed as evidence of 23
specific unlawful conduct enumerated in section 3(2)(a) of this act.24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. PROHIBITED PRACTICES. (1) An agency that 25
uses an automated license plate reader system pursuant to section 26
3(2) of this act shall not:27
(a) Disclose, share, or permit access to automated license plate 28
reader data except as required in a judicial proceeding;29
(b) Provide any other entity with direct access to the automated 30
license plate reader system, except with other state or local 31
agencies authorized to collect ALPR data under section 3 of this act. 32
A third-party vendor providing ALPR services may directly access an 33
ALPR system and data. 34
(2) Any agency that uses a watch list pursuant to section 3 (2) 35
(a) and (b)(ii) of this act must ensure the watch list is updated no 36
less than once every 24 hours. 37
p. 5 HB 2332
(3) An agency shall not sell, lease, rent, or purchase automated 1
license plate reader data or audit trail data. 2
(4) An agency may obtain privately held automated license plate 3
reader data only pursuant to a valid, court-issued, probable cause 4
warrant. 5
(5) Automated license plate reader data is not subject to 6
disclosure under the public records act, chapter 42.56 RCW, except 7
such data may be used for bona fide research as defined in RCW 8
42.48.010 and does not include individually identifiable information.9
(6) Any ALPR vendor must provide technical controls preventing 10
unauthorized data sharing, secondary transfer, or access by 11
nonauthorized agencies, including federal civil immigration 12
enforcement in accordance with this chapter. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. RECORDKEEPING/LOG. If an ALPR operator 14
accesses or provides access to ALPR data, the ALPR operator shall do 15
both of the following:16
(1) Maintain a record of that access. At a minimum, the record 17
must include all of the following: 18
(a) The date and time the data is accessed; 19
(b) Data elements used to query the ALPR system;20
(c) The username of the person who accesses the data and, as 21
applicable, the organization or entity with whom the person is 22
affiliated; 23
(d) The purpose for accessing the data; 24
(2) Require that ALPR data only be used for the authorized 25
purposes in this act. 26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. ADMISSIBILITY IN COURT. Any information 27
obtained in violation of section 3 of this act is inadmissible in any 28
civil or criminal case in all courts of general or limited 29
jurisdiction in this state, except with the permission of the person 30
whose rights have been violated in an action brought for damages 31
under section 11 of this act.32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. POLICIES. (1) By July 1, 2027, the 33
attorney general shall develop and publish model policies on the use 34
of automated license plate reader systems consistent with this act.35
p. 6 HB 2332
(2)(a) By December 1, 2027, any agency that uses an automated 1
license plate reader system pursuant to section 3 (2) of this act 2
shall: 3
(i) Adopt a policy governing use of the automated license plate 4
reader system consistent with the model policies established under 5
subsection (1) of this section and submit copies of the applicable 6
policies to the attorney general; or, if the agency did not adopt 7
policies consistent with the model policies, provide notice to the 8
attorney general stating the reasons for any departures from the 9
model policies and an explanation of how the agency's policies are 10
consistent with the provisions of this act, and include a copy of the 11
agency's relevant policies; and 12
(ii) Submit an annual report on its automated license plate 13
reader system practices and usage to the appropriate committees of 14
the legislature. The report must also be conspicuously posted on the 15
agency's public website. The report shall include:16
(A) The number of matches that resulted in arrest and 17
prosecution; 18
(B) The number of stolen vehicles and stolen license plates 19
recovered due to use of the system; 20
(C) The number of preservation requests and disclosure orders 21
received; 22
(D) The number of times automated license plate reader data or 23
audit trail data was shared with or accessed by another governmental 24
entity and the identity of each of those governmental entities;25
(E) The number of times automated license plate reader data was 26
shared or accessed pursuant to a judicial warrant;27
(F) Any changes in policy that affect privacy concerns;28
(G) Results from the agency's internal audit of its ALPR system; 29
and 30
(H) The total annual number of ALPR reads, hits, matches, and 31
alerts. 32
(b) Prior to or coincident with implementation of an automated 33
license plate reader system, a local law enforcement agency shall 34
take measures to promote public awareness on the use of such system.35
(3) After December 1, 2026, whenever an agency modifies or 36
repeals any policies pertaining to the use of automated license plate 37
reader systems, the agency shall submit notice of such action with 38
copies of any relevant policies to the attorney general within 60 39
days. 40
p. 7 HB 2332
(4) By December 31st of each year, the attorney general shall 1
publish on its website a report on the requirements of this section, 2
including copies of the model policies, information as to the status 3
of individual agencies' policies, and copies of any agency policies 4
that depart from the model policies. 5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. AUDITS. (1) Each agency operating or 6
accessing an automated license plate reader system shall maintain 7
audit trail data documenting all access to and use of the system. 8
Audit trail data must be retained for two years and must include, at 9
a minimum:10
(a) The identity of each user and the date, time, and purpose of 11
each system access or search; 12
(b) Search term entered, where applicable; 13
(c) Any export, download, or sharing of ALPR data; and14
(d) Any audit trail data generated by or made available through a 15
third-party vendor providing ALPR services. Each agency shall ensure 16
that all such vendor audit trail data is downloaded or otherwise 17
obtained and retained by the agency in accordance with this section.18
(2) Each agency shall conduct an internal audit at least once 19
each year to review: 20
(a) All access to and use of the ALPR system, as reflected in the 21
audit trail data; and 22
(b) The agency's compliance with the data retention, purging, and 23
sharing requirements established under this chapter and agency 24
policy. 25
(3) The state auditor has jurisdiction to audit agency compliance 26
with this act. 27
(a) Upon request by the state auditor, each agency shall furnish 28
all materials necessary to support such an audit, including but not 29
limited to: 30
(i) ALPR audit trail data; 31
(ii) Internal audit reports; and 32
(iii) Any audit trail data provided by or made available through 33
a third-party vendor providing ALPR services. 34
(b) After completing an audit, the attorney general shall:35
(i) Issue findings of any noncompliance; 36
(ii) Make recommendations to achieve or restore compliance; and37
(iii) Require corrective action as needed to ensure compliance 38
with this act. 39
p. 8 HB 2332
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. VIOLATIONS— APPLICATION OF THE CONSUMER 1
PROTECTION ACT. The legislature finds that the practices covered by 2
this chapter are matters vitally affecting the public interest for 3
the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, chapter 19.86 4
RCW. A violation of this chapter is not reasonable in relation to the 5
development and preservation of business and is an unfair or 6
deceptive act in trade or commerce and an unfair method of 7
competition for the purpose of applying the consumer protection act, 8
chapter 19.86 RCW.9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. CRIMINAL PENALTIES. Any person who 10
willfully and intentionally queries, accesses, or uses an automated 11
license plate reader system for a purpose not specifically authorized 12
under this chapter, or who willfully and intentionally retains, 13
sells, shares, permits access, or disseminates automated license 14
plate reader system data or audit trail data in violation of this 15
chapter, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. CIVIL REMEDY. A person injured by a 17
violation of this chapter may bring a civil action to recover any 18
equitable, declaratory relief, or injunctive relief with respect to 19
the violation; and recover all other appropriate relief, including 20
monetary damages. The court may award to a person aggrieved by a 21
violation of this chapter who prevails in an action brought under 22
this section the costs of the action, including reasonable attorneys' 23
fees.24
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. If any provision of 25
this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held 26
invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision 27
to other persons or circumstances is not affected.28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. Sections 1 through 12 of this act 29
constitute a new chapter in Title 10 RCW.30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. This act is necessary for the immediate 31
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 32
p. 9 HB 2332
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 1
effect immediately. 2
--- END ---
p. 10 HB 2332