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<section article="gps" article_name="Public Safety" number="3-509" title_number="3" title_name="Law Enforcement" subtitle_number="5">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>“Active data” means:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>data uploaded to individual automatic license plate reader system units before operation; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>data gathered during the operation of an automatic license plate reader system.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“Active data” does not include historical data.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>“Automatic license plate reader system” means a system of one or more mobile or fixed high–speed cameras used in combination with computer algorithms to convert images of license plates into computer–readable data.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <level label="i">
        <text>“Captured plate data” means the global positioning system coordinates, dates and times, photographs, license plate numbers, and any other data collected by or derived from an automatic license plate reader system.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“Captured plate data” includes active data and historical data.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>“Center” means the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>“Criminal justice information” means information relating to criminal justice collected, processed, or preserved by a law enforcement agency.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>“Historical data” means any data collected by an automatic license plate reader system and stored:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>in an automatic license plate reader database operated by or for the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center or by or for a law enforcement agency; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>through cloud computing.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>“Law enforcement agency” has the meaning stated in § 3–201(d) of this title.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="9">
      <text>“Legitimate law enforcement purpose” means the investigation, detection, or analysis of a crime or a violation of the Maryland vehicle laws or the operation of terrorist or missing or endangered person searches or alerts.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>A law enforcement agency may not use captured plate data unless the agency has a legitimate law enforcement purpose.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Automatic license plate historical data captured in accordance with this section:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>is the property of the law enforcement agency;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>may not be sold for any purpose by a law enforcement agency or vendor contracted by a law enforcement agency, including the sale of subscriptions or licenses to access data;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>may not be accessed by a vendor contracted by a law enforcement agency unless access is expressly requested and authorized by the law enforcement agency;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>may not be uploaded for any reason by the law enforcement agency or a vendor contracted by the law enforcement agency that stores the data to any other law enforcement agency or entity, regardless of whether the agency or entity is located inside or outside the State; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>may be uploaded to a database owned or operated by the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>An employee of a law enforcement agency or the vendor contracted by the law enforcement agency who violates this subsection is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The Department of State Police and any law enforcement agency using an automatic license plate reader system shall adopt procedures relating to the operation and use of the system.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The procedures shall include:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>which personnel in the Center or a law enforcement agency are authorized to query captured plate data gathered by an automatic license plate reader system;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>procedures to protect personally identifiable information and criminal justice information collected and stored in an automatic license plate reader database;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>an audit process to ensure that information obtained through the use of an automatic license plate reader system is used only for legitimate law enforcement purposes, including audits of requests made by individual law enforcement agencies, an individual law enforcement officer, or a vendor contracted by a law enforcement agency;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>procedures and safeguards to ensure that Center staff with access to the automatic license plate reader database are adequately screened and trained; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>procedures to certify whether an automatic license plate reader system experienced a data breach and a requirement for any vendor operating a database for a law enforcement agency to report:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>any breaches of the database;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>the number of employees who have access to the database; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>any unauthorized releases of information.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>Information gathered by an automatic license plate reader system is not subject to disclosure under the Maryland Public Information Act.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>On or before March 1 of each year beginning in 2016, the Department of State Police, in conjunction with the Center and law enforcement agencies that maintain an automatic license plate reader database, shall report to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Legislative Policy Committee, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, on the following information based on data from the previous calendar year:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>the total number of automatic license plate reader units being operated in the State by law enforcement agencies and the number of units submitting data to the Center;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>the number of automatic license plate reader readings made by a law enforcement agency that maintains an automatic license plate reader database and the number of readings submitted to the Center;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>the number of automatic license plate reader readings being retained on the automatic license plate reader database;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>the number of requests made to the Center and each law enforcement agency that maintains an automatic license plate reader database for automatic license plate reader data, including specific numbers for:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the number of requests that resulted in a release of information;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>the number of out–of–state requests;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>the number of federal requests;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>the number of out–of–state requests that resulted in a release of information; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>the number of federal requests that resulted in a release of information;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>any data breaches or unauthorized uses of the automatic license plate reader database; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>a list of audits that were completed by the Center or a law enforcement agency.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
