One thing WA agrees on: Government location tracking needs limits | Opinion
In Washington’s state Senate, lawmakers from different parties see plenty of things very differently. Whom and what to tax is the most obvious example, as well as major differences over what schools must tell parents about their kids. But apparently there’s still something we can mostly agree on.
The government shouldn’t follow us around, keeping track of everywhere we go and creating a record of our movements with no limitations.
That’s the heart of the issue state senators considered Wednesday when voting 40-9 in favor of Senate Bill 6002, which would regulate the use of automated license plate readers by law enforcement agencies. It aims to create a 21-day limit on how long agencies can keep images of license plates and forbid them from sharing the data with federal immigration authorities.
It’s true we don’t have an expectation of privacy when out in public in the general sense, which is what Republican Sen. Leonard Christian of Spokane Valley said in opposition to the bill. Still, there’s an important difference between someone recognizing you out on the street while you’re going about your business, and someone knowing all of your movements within a given place for an indefinite period of time.
It’s a relief to know that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle still share this value. That it’s a refreshing development is, to put it mildly, discouraging. Responsible regulations around how governments use our personal information shouldn’t be controversial.
Civil liberties groups have long been suspicious of these cameras, which photograph license plates to help law enforcement investigate crimes. Tracking down criminal suspects is good, especially when it can find people likely to keep committing violence and lessen the need for high speed chases.
But these cameras capture everyone’s data. Privacy advocates warn that such a cache of information on regular people is ripe for abuse.
Indeed, multiple chilling examples have alleged law enforcement officers accessing the information inappropriately to stalk people in their personal lives. And the threat is even bigger than that. It’s now clear that local agencies aren’t always aware that software settings can let federal departments access this data.
In October, research from the University of Washington showed that US Border Patrol had accessed information from Flock cameras used by law enforcement agencies in Pierce County and other parts of the state. Agencies in Lakewood and Eatonville told The News Tribune they weren’t aware that this access was possible.
There isn’t total agreement on the bill. In a vote Wednesday, the nine nay votes came from Republican state senators. Nonetheless, the bill had bipartisan sponsorship, and 10 Republicans voted with Democrats in favor of the bill.
The state House of Representatives would need to vote on a sister bill, which hasn’t been introduced, to get it before the governor.
I’ve argued that these cameras are dangerous because tech companies are more focused on making online camera systems easy to connect to than on making them simple to lock down. The business model is more access, not less. This bill would create a necessary incentive to prioritize control over who has access to the data.
That’s why it’s good to spell out in the law who can access this data. Sharing with federal agencies for immigration enforcement was already prohibited by the Keep Washington Working Act, because that law prohibits any law enforcement assistance with those federal agencies. This new camera law would make the ban on sharing license plate data explicit, and apply regardless of what happens to the larger state law.
It’s also good to put guardrails on how local law enforcement agencies use our data. A powerful limit is on the amount of time they keep records. This makes it harder to create a comprehensive profile of our movements in a community.
And we should make that harder. I’m glad that’s something many of us can still agree on.
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
