Center for Constitutional Democracy Submits Amicus Brief to Support California Privacy Rights  

UC Law SF’s Center for Constitutional Democracy joined the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (brief was also written by Stanford Law School’s Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic) in submitting an amicus brief in Mata v. Digital Recognition Network. This privacy case, related to the collection of information from automated license plate readers on California roadways, is being heard in the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District.

Center for Constitutional Democracy Executive Director Nicole Ozer and her coauthors write that this “case implicates critical questions about whether a California privacy law, enacted to protect people from harmful surveillance, is not just words on paper, but can be an effective tool for people to protect their rights and safety.”  The amicus brief argues that the trial court misinterpreted the state’s privacy law when it dismissed the case, erroneously requiring proof of extra harm beyond privacy harm. While in fact, “California’s Constitution and laws empower people to challenge harmful surveillance at its inception without waiting for its repercussions to manifest through additional harms.”

The implications are massive for defending and advancing rights, justice, and democracy in the AI age. As the authors write, “protection against unfettered information collection has taken on new importance today, as unblinking artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems such as automated license plate readers (“ALPRs”) proliferate in American communities, incessantly and indiscriminately capturing the locations of vehicles and other information about drivers. … Government and non-governmental actors across California and other states routinely amass and retain records of people’s movements for months or years.”

Ozer is a national expert on issues at the intersection of rights, technology, and democracy, including artificial intelligence, privacy and surveillance, and digital speech.

You can read the full brief here.

You can learn more about the work of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at www.uclawsf.edu/we-the-people.