Salt Lake City Council weighs limits on police plate readers

The Salt Lake City Council is weighing new rules for automated license-plate readers, a police technology used as a public-safety and investigative tool to identify and track vehicles connected to investigations.

The council considered limits on the technology Aug. 4, 2026. The discussion concerns how the city’s surveillance system is governed, including who can access the data, how long information may be retained and what safeguards should apply.

The proposed rules would address the city’s use of that technology rather than eliminate the technology through a final ban. The central questions include how police data may be accessed, how long it may be kept and what controls should protect residents’ information.

Until those steps are complete, the city’s position remains unresolved. The confirmed development is that the Salt Lake City Council is considering limits on the police technology—not that a ban has taken effect or that a final set of operating rules has been approved.