License Plate-Reading Companies Hit With Privacy Class Action

Two Illinois residents are suing a trio of parking-related companies, alleging violations of a federal drivers’ privacy law by harvesting license plate information and using it to “harass” drivers.

The purported class action, filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accuses parking lot operator ABM Industries Inc. and Flash Parking Inc., a parking technology firm that uses license-plate capture technology to enforce parking costs, of capturing the license plate information unsuspecting drivers. The companies allegedly provided that information to a third defendant, ParkPliant LLC to “obtain protected personal information including names, addresses and telephone ...