Class Action Lawsuit Against DRN Goes to Court in May

Plaintiff’s lawyers describe DRN’s actions as a “mass surveillance program.”

Fort Worth-based License Plate Recognition (LPR) company Digital Recognition Network (DRN) is apparently heading to court in California this May. On trial are allegations that their capturing of license plate data violates California’s Automated License Plate Recognition (“ALPR”) statute. At risk are potential payouts of $2,500 to up to 23 million Californians. That’s a potential $57B!

In 2021, California resident Guillermo Mata sued Texas-based DRN for selling location data of people’s vehicles to marketers, repo agencies, and insurers. Last September, the lawsuit was granted class action status. The lawsuit alleges that the actions of DRN violate California’s Automated License Plate Recognition (“ALPR”) statute regulating the use of automatic license plate readers.

The class action lawsuit alleges that DRN used a series of cameras to record the license plate data of millions of vehicles. The database is said to include the plate number, along with the date, time, and GPS location of where it was captured. Before including this data in its database, the company allegedly did not provide the required notice to the vehicle owners, nor did it follow the relevant laws regarding data protection.

Unless they opt out, all California residents whose license plate data was collected at least 15 times since 2017 are automatically designated as class members. Those who request to exclude themselves by March 7, 2024, will not be part of the class action, and will retain their right to sue DRN separately. However, they will miss out on their share of a monetary settlement, should one be obtained.

The lawsuit alleges that DRN’s LPR cameras have been used on public roads to scan license plates in a manner violating a 2016 California law requiring notice to the vehicle owners as well as relevant laws regarding data protection.

The law stipulates a $2,500 minimum payout for each victim. The total number of affected vehicles is estimated to be about 23 million. That could be as much as $57B if awarded the full estimate. The plaintiff’s lawyers describe DRN’s actions as a “mass surveillance program.”

You can check whether you qualify as a class member by going over to the case website.

In a statement to SFGate, Eli Wade-Scott, a lawyer for Edelson PC, the firm representing the class members, said that DRN’s actions violate California’s privacy laws and peoples’ civil liberties. According to him, “DRN is capturing a pretty detailed picture of people’s lives … That could be capturing you at home, at work, at your school, your house of worship, at your doctor.”

DRN, refutes the allegations that its actions violated any California law. They maintain that “neither Plaintiff nor any similarly situated person has suffered any harm,” and claims that the law in question “does not prohibit the collection or storage of ALPR information.” The trial is scheduled to begin on May 17th in San Diego County Superior Court. That is, barring an early settlement.

Source: Techspot