The Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury is urging county officials to replace the ParkMobile parking system at the County Governmental Center, arguing the app creates unnecessary barriers for residents and exposes users to unnecessary privacy risks.
In a report released this week, the grand jury concluded that requiring visitors to use a third-party smartphone app to access free parking at the County Governmental Center and courthouse at 701 Ocean St. undermines public access to government services.
The report recommends the Board of Supervisors direct the county’s General Services Division to develop a new parking system that allows visitors to park for one or two hours without providing personal information or relying on a smartphone. It also recommends reviewing future parking contracts to better protect users’ personal data.
County officials installed the ParkMobile system in 2025 to manage visitor parking at the county offices and courthouse. Drivers receive one or two hours of free parking in designated areas but must register through the ParkMobile app by providing information including an email address, phone number, license plate number and credit card in case they exceed the free parking period. Visitors who do not want to use the app can instead obtain a dashboard permit from the General Services office on the building’s third floor.
The grand jury said that arrangement creates obstacles for several groups, including seniors without smartphones, people without credit cards, non-English speakers, residents concerned about digital privacy and visitors with mobility limitations who must travel to the third floor to obtain a parking pass. The report also criticized the placement of updated parking signs, saying they are easy to miss and have not resolved confusion about the system.
The report also raises concerns about data privacy. While noting it found no evidence that ParkMobile itself has engaged in wrongdoing, the grand jury said requiring residents to provide personal information to a third-party vendor in order to receive free parking unnecessarily exposes them to potential data breaches, fraud and unwanted data collection. The report cites previous cybersecurity incidents involving ParkMobile and recent lawsuits involving license plate data collected by parking systems elsewhere in California.
The grand jury also found the county rushed the implementation of the system without first developing a formal requirements document, evaluating alternatives or the needs of visitors. According to the report, county staff told the grand jury the rollout was incomplete and additional multilingual signage was added months later to address some of the initial shortcomings.
Among its recommendations, the grand jury says any replacement system should allow free parking without collecting personal data, provide payment options that do not require smartphones or personal devices, eliminate the need for visitors to enter the building simply to obtain a parking permit, and clearly post all parking rules and exemptions in multiple languages. The report suggests those requirements be completed by the end of 2026 with a new system in place by July 1, 2027.
Under state law, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has 90 days to formally respond to the grand jury’s findings and recommendations.
