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ORWELL INDEX

Who runs license plate readers in Orange County?

On the map

0
Verified by us
1529
Community-reported

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including community reporting via the DeFlock project. Tiles by OpenFreeMap.

What we do not know

Orange County Sheriff

  • What the monthly audits have found. The policy specifies exactly what each audit report contains, which makes this an unusually well-defined records request.
  • Which businesses and homeowners' associations have agreements letting the department search their cameras, and who approves one.
  • How many cameras the department operates, of what kind, where, and at what cost.
  • Which agencies hold the ALPR Sharing MOU the policy requires, and what it commits them to.

What license plate readers are

An automated license plate reader photographs every passing vehicle and records the plate, the time and the place. It does not watch suspects. It logs everyone, and the record is usually kept on a vendor’s servers.

How they work, why agencies buy them, and every county we have documented →

What you can do

Civic action

Show up

This technology is bought and renewed by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Orange County.

Go to the Orange County hub →

Personal protection

Protect yourself

Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.

Surveillance Self-Defense ↗