Legislation restricting the use of information obtained by license plate scanners in Georgia won approval from a key legislative committee Tuesday.
Sponsored by Republican Rep. John Pezold of Columbus, House Bill 93 is aimed at protecting motorists' privacy. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved it after a brief hearing. Pezold said he hopes the measure could come to the House floor for a vote as soon as this week.
The scanners take photos of vehicles and their license plates and collect information about where and when they were spotted. State police and local officers across the Atlanta region are using them them to hunt stolen vehicles, missing children and fugitives. Repo companies use them to recover vehicles from debtors. And private companies make that captured information available to police and auto loan companies.
As approved Tuesday, HB 93 would outlaw the use of the scanners in Georgia except for law enforcement purposes. Those caught breaking the law could face up to $5,000 in fines and two years in jail. Pezold said he plans to tweak that language so private companies would still be able to use the devices but would be prohibited from sharing the records they gather with other parties in Georgia.
HB 93 also would require police departments in Georgia to develop policies and training for using the scanners. And they would have to delete the information they capture with the scanners within 90 days, with some exceptions. Further, the records they keep would be subject to audits by the Georgia Crime Information Center. The bill also makes those records secret, exempting them from Georgia’s Open Records Act.
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