1 bill · 2024 Regular Session
Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding license plate readers and to provide for the attachment of front license plates only to vehicles equipped with a front mounting bracket.
This legislation pertains to the subject of vehicle license plates. In the relative absence of state laws specifically dealing with the question, many Idaho law enforcement agencies are deploying cameras that record the license plates of every vehicle that passes by on public roads. The data collected can then be kept indefinitely. In order to check the drift towards the creation of a surveillance society, this legislation limits the usage of such cameras to investigating and prosecuting crimes, which would include searching for the plates of stolen vehicles, and scanning for particular plates to search for missing, endangered, or wanted individuals. It also prevents the inappropriate sharing of this data, and limits the retention of data to 45 days, unless it is being used in the investigation and prosecution of a crime, after which it must be irrevocably destroyed. The legislation also reduces the expenditure of time and money for the owners of certain ordinary vehicles by stating that those without a front license plate bracket do not need to mount a second license plate on the front of the vehicle.