Oregon Senate committee advances SB 1516 to restrict license-plate reader data

Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D‑Eugene, led the Senate Judiciary Committee to unanimously approve an amended SB 1516 on Feb. 18 that would require law enforcement to delete automated license‑plate reader (ALPR) data not tied to a criminal investigation after 30 days and limit most data sharing to within Oregon. The committee version also requires end‑to‑end encryption, though the precise legal definition advocates and Prozanski sought was removed during committee work.

Prozanski said the measure aims to create consistent rules across agencies and build auditing into data sharing. “This will in fact require agencies within the state to have some uniformity as to what they can and can't do in their contracts,” he said, adding the bill would require logging of information sharing “so it can be audited and checked.” Prozanski had convened a working group late in 2025 and previewed the proposal at an Eugene City Club meeting Jan. 23, where he said the ALPR provisions would be folded into the public safety omnibus and the civil omnibus rather than carried as a standalone bill.

The move comes after a string of local contract terminations with Flock Safety: Eugene, Springfield and Lane County ended Flock contracts last year, and Bend followed after public opposition. Florence held a public hearing and decided to keep its ALPR system. Local police leaders in Eugene and Springfield have said they still want the investigative capabilities that ALPR tools provide even as they terminated specific vendor agreements.

Privacy advocates including the ACLU and the group Eyes Off Eugene pressed for tighter limits and a specific encryption definition in committee hearings. Ky Fireside, an organizer with Eyes Off Eugene, alleged vendor influence in the process: “They even went so far as to contact the state's chief information security officer, who's supposed to be a neutral third‑party public agency, and they had him write a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying that if we passed this with the definition, it would be bad for Axon's business model, which is a total corruption of the legislative process.” Advocates warn that the vaguer encryption language could allow vendors continued access to location data.

After committee approval, the full Oregon Senate approved SB 1516 Feb. 20 by a unanimous 27‑0 vote, and the bill now moves to the Oregon House of Representatives for consideration during the 35‑day short session that began Feb. 2. Lawmakers are constrained by limits on bill introductions during the short session, which shaped Prozanski’s decision to package ALPR rules into omnibus legislation.

For regional comparison, Washington’s Legislature recently advanced a separate ALPR bill: SB 6002 in Olympia passed the state Senate 40‑9 after a substitute set a 21‑day retention period. Senators there debated allowable uses of ALPRs; Sen. Leonard Christian, R‑Spokane Valley, argued drivers have limited privacy expectations on public roads, saying, “I don’t expect privacy driving down a public road to go to Walmart.”

SB 1516’s path to final law now runs through House committees, where lawmakers will confront competing demands from law enforcement for an effective tool and from privacy advocates pushing for a clear encryption standard and tighter protections against out‑of‑state or federal misuse.