Privacy Harm Is Harm (www.eff.org)

The Electronic Frontier Foundation joined an amicus brief in Mata v. Digital Recognition Network, a lawsuit by drivers against Digital Recognition Network (DRN Data), a Motorola Solutions subsidiary that aggregates Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) data. Plaintiffs allege DRN violated a California statute regulating ALPRs by building and selling a searchable database of location-tracking records to law enforcement and private firms (insurers, lenders, repossession companies). A state trial court dismissed the case after reading the law to require proof of additional injury (like physical harm or economic loss) beyond the privacy intrusion itself; the brief—filed with ACLU Northern California, Stanford’s Juelsgaard Clinic, and UC Law SF—argues that California’s Constitution and statutes recognize privacy harms on their own and that people shouldn’t need to wait for collateral damage to sue. The stakes are technical and structural: the court’s ruling would narrow “harm” and undercut a private right of action, effectively insulating mass surveillance systems from legal challenge unless plaintiffs can demonstrate downstream injuries. The brief stresses legal doctrines of standing, California’s Article I, Section 1 privacy protections, and the broad statutory meaning of “harm.” Given documented uses of ALPR networks—from tracking reproductive healthcare seekers to ICE enforcement and domestic surveillance—this decision could determine whether privacy laws have substantive enforcement power or remain mere paper protections against corporate and state surveillance.