Truckers sue AI dash cam company over ‘mass surveillance’ on a ‘massive scale’

A lawsuit filed by truck drivers accuses a popular fleet and driver management technology company of improperly collecting license plate data and “surreptitiously tracking Americans across the United States.”

On July 24, 2026, truck drivers Adam Dean and Christian Erickson filed a class action complaint against AI dash cam company Motive Technologies Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Company Violated California’s Automated License Plate Reader Law, Suit Alleges

According to the lawsuit, Motive’s AI-powered dash cam systems include Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) that can identify and create a detailed record of every vehicle that enters their view. The suit accuses Motive of violating California’s ALPR Law, which regulates the use of ALPRs by public and private entities.

From the complaint:

“Motive’s use of ALPRs is not just an invasion of privacy, but also a violation of the ALPR Law, in that Motive failed to publicly post the required policy and usage information as required by the statute. As a result of Motive’s misconduct, Plaintiffs and Class Members have suffered numerous injuries, including: (i) invasion of privacy; (ii) emotional distress and heightened concerns related to the surreptitious surveillance of their movements by unknown third parties; and (iii) statutory damages.“

The suit further accuses Motive of surveilling American drivers on a wide-raging scale:

“Motive’s mass surveillance operates on a massive scale. Motive advertises its cameras are in use across “nearly 100,000 customers and 1.3 million drivers.” Accordingly, upon information and belief, there are 1.3 million drivers currently operating with ALPR technology constantly recording and surreptitiously tracking Americans across the United States.“

Truck Drivers Report Privacy Concerns Associated With Dash Cam Tech

From 2022 through 2025, Erickson worked as a FedEx Ground Contractor with Ground Logistics Services in California who operated with a Motive ALPR in his company vehicle. From 2020 to 2023, Dean worked as a truck driver for a company based in Ohio with a Motive ALPR installed in his company vehicle.

The suit alleges that Motive acted improperly when it failed to inform Erickson and Dean that it was gathering data including pictures of their vehicles, other automatically-generated information relating to their vehicles, the identities of associates, their license plate numbers, and their time-stamped locations.

The drivers also claim that the AI dashcams collected their biometric identifiers and biometric information and sent the information to Motive’s servers without their consent.

“Plaintiff Erickson worries about his privacy and personal security, and he worries about how governmental and private individuals with access to Motive’s records might use or misuse the records of his movements. Further, Plaintiff Erickson worries that malicious third-party hackers might one day gain access to Motive’s records and misuse such data,” the complaint states.

Plaintiffs Ask For Damages and Injunction

The Class includes all U.S. citizens who were recorded without authorization by Motive’s ALPRs, residents of California who had their vehicle tracking data accessed by Motive’s ALPRs, and U.S. drivers who were recorded without consent by an inward-facing Motive ALPR installed in their work vehicle.

The lawsuit seeks damages of $2,500 on behalf of the Plantiffs and each Class member as well as punitive damages and an injunction against Motive to prevent the company from allegedly collecting driver data without consent.

The Plantiffs seek a jury trial.