SFPD Sued Over Camera Database Access
The San Francisco Police Department is facing a lawsuit alleging its Flock camera database was improperly accessed 1.6 million times by federal and out-of-state agencies. The suit raises significant questions about data privacy and the security protocols surrounding public surveillance networks.
The class-action lawsuit, filed by Oakland-based law firm Gibbs Mura, alleges that Flock Safety shared data from SFPD's automated license plate readers (ALPRs) with out-of-state and federal agencies. This alleged sharing is a violation of California's ALPR Privacy Act, which restricts such data transfers. The suit claims this resulted in over 1.6 million searches of the SFPD database by these external agencies between August 2024 and February 2025. Flock Safety's system uses AI-powered cameras to capture images of every passing vehicle, recording license plates, locations, and timestamps which are then stored in a searchable database. This creates a detailed record of a vehicle's movements, accessible to law enforcement without a warrant. The data is stored on Amazon Web Services using AES256 encryption, and Flock's policy is to delete data after 30 days, though customers can set different retention periods. This is not the first legal challenge against Flock's technology; a similar lawsuit was filed against the city of San Jose by the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation. Concerns have also been raised in other jurisdictions, with some cities like Mountain View, California, shutting down their Flock cameras after discovering unauthorized data access by federal agencies. In Illinois, a state audit found Flock had violated state law by sharing data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The core of the issue is the tension between public safety and individual privacy, with critics arguing the technology creates a "surveillance dragnet." The lawsuit claims this constitutes warrantless and unreasonable surveillance, violating the Fourth Amendment. At least 19 searches were reportedly linked to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a practice explicitly prohibited by SFPD policy. Flock Safety has stated it takes privacy and legal compliance seriously and intends to "vigorously defend itself." The company has previously paused pilot programs with federal agencies like CBP and Homeland Security Investigations following public backlash. However, critics argue that even without direct access, federal agencies can still obtain data by asking local partner agencies to perform searches on their behalf.
