SB 71 CO
Use of Surveillance Technology by Law Enforcement
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Summary
Effective July 1, 2027, Colorado's Surveillance Accountability and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act establishes requirements for law enforcement use of surveillance technology, including facial recognition systems, traffic cameras, automated license plate readers, and drone cameras. The act restricts facial recognition use to cases where a warrant has been obtained or in exigent circumstances involving imminent threat to public safety, and limits traffic cameras and license plate readers to public spaces for specific enforcement purposes. Law enforcement agencies must comply with data storage timeframes based on technology type, prohibits selling surveillance data (but allows sharing with other agencies for active investigations), and requires permanent destruction of data after retention periods or when no longer needed. Law enforcement agencies must make compliance information available to residents at no cost, and the state attorney general is required to conduct biennial audits and may bring civil actions to enforce the act. Violations result in civil penalties.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill (from the OpenStates abstract — no full text available yet) — neutral, and may be imperfect.
Official abstract
The bill establishes the "Surveillance Accountability and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act" (SAFE Act). On and after July 1, 2027, the SAFE Act requires a law enforcement agency to use surveillance technology only for lawful purposes directly related to public safety or for an active investigation.If a law enforcement agency uses surveillance technology to collect surveillance data, the law enforcement agency must comply with certain requirements related to the collection, storage, sharing, and destruction of the data.The law enforcement agency must ensure that:Facial recognition systems are only used after a warrant is obtained or in exigent circumstances when there is an imminent threat to public safety;Traffic cameras and automated license plate readers must only be used in public spaces and for specific enforcement purposes, such as traffic violations or identifying stolen vehicles; andDrone cameras are operated in compliance with federal aviation administration regulations.A law enforcement agency may store data collected by surveillance technology only for a specified amount of time depending on the type of technology used and how the data is collected or until an active investigation is concluded.A law enforcement agency shall not sell any data that is collected from its surveillance technologies, but the law enforcement agency may share the surveillance data with another law enforcement agency if the data is related to an active investigation and the other law enforcement agency agrees to comply with the requirements of the SAFE Act. A law enforcement agency must also ensure that surveillance data is permanently destroyed at the end of an applicable retention period or once the data is no longer needed for the matter. The bill creates civil penalties for violations of these provisions.The bill also requires a law enforcement agency to make certain information related to the law enforcement agency's compliance with the SAFE Act available to residents who request it at no cost to the resident.The bill requires the attorney general to conduct an audit of a law enforcement agency every 2 years and authorizes the attorney general to bring a civil action to enforce the SAFE Act.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)
Sponsor (1)
- L. Zamora Wilson Republican · sponsor
Action history (3)
- May 6, 2026 Senate Committee on Judiciary Postpone Indefinitely · upper
- Feb 23, 2026 Senate Committee on Judiciary Lay Over Unamended - Amendment(s) Failed · upper
- Jan 28, 2026 Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Judiciary · upper
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