Suzan DelBene
Role at the time: U.S. representative for Washington's 1st district, in an emailed statement from her office
Statement summary
Rep. Suzan DelBene said in a statement sent by her office that the law has not kept up with technology, leaving Americans' personal information open to unregulated collection and abuse by companies and government. She cited the benefits of license plate readers for law enforcement and called for a national consumer data protection law and regulations that ensure the tools are used transparently, with accountability for misuse.
“We need regulations that ensure these tools are used in a clear, transparent way and that violations or misuse come with accountability.”
Read the full email
Our laws are not keeping up with how technology is advancing. That leaves the personal information of millions of Americans vulnerable to unregulated collection and abuse by private companies and the government. I’ve been a strong advocate of a national consumer data protection law. This would help protect Americans’ civil liberties while balancing the benefits of new technologies, like ALPRs, that can help law enforcement better protect our communities. We need regulations that ensure these tools are used in a clear, transparent way and that violations or misuse come with accountability.
Nick Martin of Rep. Suzan DelBene's office sent this statement by email in reply to a Dispute Index request for comment, attributing it to DelBene. The link is to her House website; the statement itself is not published there. The text is reproduced as sent.
Why we used this label
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. DelBene credits the readers with helping law enforcement but warns of unregulated collection and abuse, and supports their use only with clear, transparent rules and accountability for misuse, so we labeled it Mixed or conditional. Keeping the readers under general regulation fits the Guardrails step.