License Plate Readers & Community Surveillance — An Active Policy Debate
active• woodside
Woodside has maintained an automated license plate reader (ALPR) program and produces quarterly and annual public reports on its use — a transparency practice that stands in notable contrast to how other Peninsula cities have managed their ALPR data. The February 10, 2026 Town Council agenda included the quarterly and annual report on automated license plate readers — a standing accountability item that gives residents regular visibility into how the system is being used, how many reads are occurring, and whether any data-sharing with outside agencies has taken place. The broader regional ALPR debate — triggered by Los Altos Hills' decision to pull its Flock Safety cameras entirely and Mountain View's disclosure that hundreds of unauthorized agencies had accessed its camera data — has put every Peninsula city's ALPR policy under renewed scrutiny. For Woodside, the question is whether its current transparency practices are sufficient given what is now known about data-sharing risks, particularly in a community with a significant immigrant population in its workforce.
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