legality is not a strong argument for morality. still, we have constitutional protections against things like warrantless search and seizure, which many would argue that these activities violate.
edited to add -
you said, "Judgements [sic] come from judges, not journalists". however, this reporting - like other good investigative journalism - could lead to a suit from EFF or ACLU to stop this from happening.
And people are disagreeing with you because it's not legal. From TFA:
"California police are prohibited from sharing data from automated license plate readers with out-of-state and federal agencies."
If license plate data was sent to ICE, that's a violation of the law. Sometimes it takes journalism to uncover illegal activities. Depending on how the consequences take place, more scrutiny or civic action may be needed.
But dismissing this as saying "nearly every US law enforcement agency does plate reading" is fatalistic, and in this case, ignorant of the legality.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/05/she-got-abortion-so-te...
legality is not a strong argument for morality. still, we have constitutional protections against things like warrantless search and seizure, which many would argue that these activities violate.
edited to add - you said, "Judgements [sic] come from judges, not journalists". however, this reporting - like other good investigative journalism - could lead to a suit from EFF or ACLU to stop this from happening.
See also: "California Department of Justice Declares Out-of-State Sharing of License Plate Data Unlawful" https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/victory-california-dep...