By Cathy Wu - Edited by Sam Gilman

RE: Neal v. Fairfax County Police Department, et al., Case No. CL-2015-5902 On April 1, the Virginia circuit court held Fairfax County Police Department’s (“FCPD”) use of the Automatic License Plate Reader (“ALPR”) to be a violation of the state’s Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act, Virginia Code § 2.2-3800 et seq (“Data Act”). The Court granted the plaintiff’s petition for an injunction that prohibited the police from scanning and storing untargeted license plate data unless a license plate scan specifically related to investigations of suspected criminal activity. According to the Court, since at least 2010, Fairfax County police have used ALPR technology, in the form of specialized cameras mounted on the back of patrol cars, to scan and...