LPR and DOL Data Privacy Notice

LPR and DOL Data Privacy Notice 

Western Washington University 
Transportation Services 
Privacy Notice 

Purpose of Notice 

This notice provides information for its employees, students, and visitors about Western’s use of license plate recognition (LPR) hardware and software for vehicle parking enforcement and citation collections. If a driver does not wish for the University to collect such data, the driver may choose not to use parking areas and services managed by Western Washington University Transportation Services. 

USE OF LICENSE PLATE READERS (LPR) 

Locations 

LPR data is collected by Transportation Services (TS) on University managed or owned streets, parking lots and structures, as well as any location associated with a current university lease, rental or mutual‐aid agreement. TS utilizes mobile vehicle‐mounted systems and/or handheld devices, which are driven or operated by trained personnel in parking locations throughout the university and associated areas included in this policy. Mobile cameras are active 24 hours daily, 7 days per week. 

Data Retention 

Data collected by the LPR system not resulting in parking enforcement action is not retained. Data resulting in parking enforcement action is retained according to SB 6002 and established University data retention policies.  

Use of Data 

The intended use of data collected by the LPR system is for parking access control and parking enforcement. LPR data is used to determine a vehicle’s access permissions in each parking area or controlled access area of campus and associated areas included in this policy and support the issuance of a parking citation, if needed.  

Access to LPR System 

Access to the LPR system is restricted to trained University personnel performing their official University duties. All personnel with access to the system use unique identifiers and passwords to access records and all login activity, record additions, and other activity is logged. Access to the system by others is prohibited. 

LPR Data Disclosure 

LPR data is not subject to disclosure under the public records act, per SB 6002. LPR data shall not be disclosed outside of TS, except when a valid, court-issued warrant or subpoena for such data is presented to TS. 

 

USE OF WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING DATA 

The University accesses the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) database to retrieve registered vehicle owner contact information to collect fines resulting from University parking citations. 

Data Accessed 

Only the name and address of registered vehicle owners are accessed and used for the purpose described above. This information is accessed by: 

  1. A third party contracting with WWU to collect on outstanding parking citations on behalf of the University. 
  2. Limited University personnel within the Transportation Services needing to contact a vehicle owner when the owner’s correct contact information is not available through Western’s parking portal database. 

Data Retention 

Each vehicle record (registered owner name and address) requested through the DOL system is available only at the time which the request is made. It is not stored by the University but is retained in a vendor’s system according to established University data retention policies. 

Access to DOL system 

Access to the DOL system is restricted to a very limited number of trained University personnel whose duties include citation collection duties. All personnel with access to the system use unique identifiers and passwords to access records and all login activity, record additions, and other activity is logged. Access to the system by others is prohibited. Third party access is held to the same standards per a data sharing agreement.