8th Cir. Says Digital Recognition Network — Who Sells License-plate Numbers in Photographs Taken by Cameras to Vehicle Repossession Companies — Cannot Challenge Arkansas Law Prohibiting the Practice

In Digital Recognition Network, Inc. v. Hutchinson, 2015 WL 5933168, at *1 (C.A.8 (Ark.),2015), the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit held that  Digital Recognition Network and Vigilant Solutions lack standing to sue the Arkansas Attorney General and Governor to enjoin enforcement of the Arkansas Automatic License Plate Reader System Act, Ark.Code § 12–12–1801 et seq., which prohibited — and gave private civil enforcement of — Plaintiff’s business model.   

Vigilant Solutions developed an automatic license plate reader technique that permits computers to identify license-plate numbers in digital photographs. Digital Recognition uses Vigilant’s reader technique to identify license-plate numbers in photographs taken by cameras that Digital Recognition sells to vehicle repossession companies and others. A repossession company mounts the cameras on tow trucks and other vehicles, and the cameras automatically photograph everything the vehicles encounter. Digital Recognition notifies the driver when a photographed vehicle is subject to repossession, and sells the license-plate data it collects to clients, such as automobile finance and insurance companies.