Drivers in Los A.. County have a powerful new privacy advocate after the Board of Supervisors pushed to restrict how their license plates are scanned by law enforcement.

The board recently voted to ask the Sheriff's Department to more stringently regulate its use of the license plate data it collects through camera systems mounted on patrol cars and above roads.

The September motion requests that the LA County Sheriff's Department, which operates independently from the supervisors, conduct yearly privacy training for deputies with access to license plate cameras and that the data not be used for non-criminal immigration enforcement.

It also requests the department delete plate sightings after 60 days, unless they are flagged on lists of suspected crimina.. The Sheriff's Department welcomes the motion and plans to review its practices and policies, the department told CalMatters.

Per the motion, deputies are to report their licens.. reader policy changes to the county by January.

The county motion does not apply to police departments such as LAPD, since they are governed by local city councils.

The Los Angeles City Council has acquired about $400,000.. of license plate reader technology for LAPD since June.

The L.A.

County Board.. has made immigration issues a priority.

Fast tracking both the license plate motion and another requesting a report on progress using new state laws to protect schools from Ice raids.

Two Los Angeles City Council members, Unesco Nandez and Hugo Soto Martinez, consistently vote against the police department's use of license plate readers, citing concerns over their use in immigration enforcement.

CalMatters did not find that the LA County Sheriff's Department shared data with ICE or the Border Patrol, but some Los Angeles area agencies did.

The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment when asked about such sharing.

For CalMatters, I'm Khari Johnson, with additional reporting by Phoebe Hu..