ST. PAUL, MN – Private data currently stored file by law enforcement may be at risk due to the increased collection of information via license plate readers (LPR) on squad cars.
Representative John Lesch (DFL – St Paul), chair of the House Civil Law Committee and Data Practices Subcommittee, continues to request that state law enforcement agencies protect the private data of Safe at Home participants. Rep. Lesch hopes to gather input and develop a consistent strategy across departments that will ensure data privacy.
“I’ve been working to get the numerous state agencies on the same page to ensure we provide a safe environment for people in the Safe and Home program,” said Rep. Lesch. “Ultimately, this private data is under the watch of law enforcement and the people of Minnesota deserve to know that their data is secure. The agencies involved have a civil responsibility to report back on how they plan to protect that data.”
Safe at Home is a statewide address confidentiality program administered by the Secretary of State’s Office. The program was designed to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or others who fear for their safety maintain a confidential address.
Currently, license plate readers collect data for law enforcement and that data is kept on file. While this data is classified as temporary, its existence could potentially allow an abuser to locate a survivor of domestic violence or other participant in the Safe at Home program. Legislation was introduced this session to protect Safe at Home participants from having their data abused, but unfortunately was not passed into law.
Of the 352 agencies that have been contacted by Rep. Lesch, only 57 have responded. Of those 57, 8 agencies have said they have a LPR system in place that currently stores private data. Their strategies for protected that data range from using standard data privacy practices already in place to simply limiting the number of days the data is stored to 30 or 90 days.
The responses showed vast differences between systems that are being used everywhere from Hennepin County and surrounding metro communities to various agencies across rural Minnesota. Other than simply limiting the amount of time data was stored, no agency had instituted any special safeguard for the private data of Safe at Home participants.
Rep. Lesch expects to hear back from law enforcement agencies throughout the fall to find out how they plan to remedy this injustice before the Legislature returns to the Capitol for the 2014 session in February.
“This is a bill that we need to continue to work on,” said Rep. Lesch. “It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t able to be passed this passed session. But it’s crucial that we keep fighting to put better protections in place. Until we’re able to get a bill moved through the Legislature, we need our law enforcement agencies to come together and find a solution works for everybody.”
Rep. Lesch, a long time advocate for data privacy rights, unsuccessfully offered an amendment this session to reduce the holding period for all license plate reader data to zero days.
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