Flock Safety ALPR Breach Exposes California License Plate Data to Out-of-State Agencies A security lapse in Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) system has raised concerns over compliance with California’s strict privacy laws. The breach, disclosed by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) on February 27, allowed federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies to access local ALPR data despite state prohibitions on such sharing. The VCSO, which serves unincorporated areas and contracting cities like Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, reported that a vendor error reactivated the "national lookup" feature in early 2025, enabling unauthorized queries. Between February 19 and March 19, 2025, external agencies conducted over 364,000 searches of Ventura County’s ALPR data, with 299 queries explicitly linked to immigration enforcement violating California’s restrictions on sharing data for such purposes. The Oxnard Police Department (OPD) also suspended its ALPR use after an audit revealed the same issue. Both agencies had previously disabled the national lookup feature in 2023 to comply with state law, but Flock’s system error reactivated it without their knowledge. Flock Safety, which provides fixed-position ALPRs to multiple California jurisdictions, attributed the breach to a system change in March 2024 that inadvertently reintroduced the feature. The company has since implemented internal safeguards, while the VCSO has added daily audits to monitor system settings and access logs. The incident underscores ongoing tensions between law enforcement technology and privacy regulations, particularly in states with strict data-sharing restrictions.

Mountain View Ends Flock Safety Contract After Unauthorized Data Access by Federal, State Agencies On February 24, the Mountain View City Council unanimously voted to terminate its contract with Flock Safety, a provider of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), following revelations that city camera data had been accessed by federal and state agencies without permission. The decision came after months of scrutiny and public pressure, with residents from Mountain View and neighboring cities urging the council to reject Flock’s system and any replacements. The controversy began on February 2, when Mountain View Police Chief Mike Canfield announced the shutdown of the city’s 30 Flock cameras, citing a loss of confidence in the vendor due to undisclosed data breaches. Two major incidents were uncovered. Between August and November 2024, shortly after the first camera was installed, a "national lookup" setting was activated without the city’s knowledge, allowing federal agencies including the ATF (Kentucky and Tennessee offices) and Air Force bases in Virginia and Ohio to search the data. While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was not involved, the access violated California’s ban on sharing ALPR data with federal agencies or out-of-state entities. Flock Safety later disabled the national lookup feature for all California agencies in March 2025 but could not explain how the setting was enabled or disabled. A second breach occurred when a "statewide lookup" feature was turned on in August 2024, granting other California agencies access to Mountain View’s license plate data without the required city approval. The issue was discovered in January 2026 and promptly disabled. Chief Canfield stated that neither the statewide nor nationwide lookup tools were ever disclosed during Flock’s onboarding process. Despite the breaches, the system proved operationally effective. Over its duration, the ALPR program assisted in 87 commercial burglaries, 65 car break-ins, and 42 residential burglaries, leading to the identification or arrest of 41 suspects. It also aided in high-profile cases, including a domestic violence-carjacking arrest in San Francisco and the rescue of a kidnapping victim in San Jose. The city spent $154,650 on the program. Flock Safety maintained that its clients retain control over system settings, though the city’s investigation found no evidence of intentional misuse. The termination of the contract marks the end of Mountain View’s pilot program, leaving the future of ALPR use in the city uncertain.

A data breach in Flock Safety’s camera software—widely deployed by law enforcement—resulted in unauthorized sharing of license plate and vehicle imagery with federal immigration agencies through pilot programs. While the breach did not affect the Normal Police Department (Central Illinois), which adheres to the Illinois Trust Act (prohibiting non-criminal data sharing), other participating agencies inadvertently exposed data intended for combating human trafficking and fentanyl distribution to immigration enforcement. The leak stemmed from lack of access protocols in Flock Safety’s system, prompting the company to pause all federal data-sharing pilots.The compromised data includes license plate records and vehicle images, collected en masse by police departments. Although no direct financial or identity theft was reported, the breach raises concerns over privacy violations, misuse of surveillance data, and potential targeting of undocumented individuals. Flock Safety’s CEO acknowledged systemic gaps, while affected agencies face scrutiny over compliance with data-sharing laws. Periodic audits by departments like Normal PD aim to mitigate risks, but the incident highlights vulnerabilities in third-party law enforcement tech partnerships and the unintended repurposing of surveillance data for immigration enforcement.

Flock ALPR Data Leak Exposes Law Enforcement Search Queries in Search Engines Privacy advocates and 404 Media uncovered a data exposure involving Flock Safety, a company specializing in automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), revealing sensitive law enforcement search details in public search engine results. The incident highlights an unusual breach where surveillance data was inadvertently indexed by platforms like DuckDuckGo and Bing. In May, the NoCo Privacy Coalition a Northern Colorado-based activist group shared findings with 404 Media, demonstrating that search engine URLs contained exposed data, including license plate numbers, vehicle details (make, model, color), search reasons (e.g., "GTA" for grand theft auto, "Investigation"), case numbers, and date ranges. Some results also referenced identifiers like "window stickers" or "top rack." Flock, which operates thousands of ALPR cameras nationwide, confirmed the issue in a statement, clarifying that the exposed data consisted of search query fragments rather than full search results or underlying law enforcement records. The company estimated around 70 affected queries, dating from 2024 to 2025, and stated it was working with search engines to remove cached content. A spokesperson emphasized that protecting customer data remains a priority and that the company is investigating further. The leak underscores ongoing privacy concerns surrounding Flock’s technology, which captures and stores vehicle data often without a warrant before making it accessible to law enforcement. The controversy has led some communities to ban or restrict the use of Flock cameras amid debates over surveillance and civil liberties.

Flock Safety's AI-powered gunshot detection technology implemented in San Jose has been reported to yield a high rate of false positives, incorrectly flagging sounds such as fireworks or cars backfiring as gunfire. Initially, only 50 percent of the detected incidents were confirmed as gunshots. After recalibration, accuracy improved, suggesting that such systems may not be as reliable as claimed. The system's potential to dispatch police to non-threatening situations raises concerns, especially in communities of color, about the risks of unnecessary police confrontations.