A growing number of communities are asking a question they did not ask when they bought license plate cameras: who else is searching the data?
This week, NPR reported on cities canceling or reconsidering contracts with Flock Safety, the largest provider of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) in the United States. The cameras photograph passing vehicles and record plate numbers, locations and times, which police can then search.
What Flock Says
Flock says federal agencies do not have direct access to its platform, that its pilot programs with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations have ended, and that any sharing of a customer’s data must be authorized by that local customer and comply with the law. In June 2025, the company added automatic blocks on searches tied to immigration and reproductive health, and it suspended certain cross-agency access for law enforcement in California, Illinois and Virginia.
What the Audit Logs Show
Researchers and journalists reviewing Flock search logs found local police searches with stated reasons such as “ICE” or “immigration.” 404 Media reported thousands of such lookups. That suggests local officers running searches on behalf of federal agencies, which critics call “side-door” access: no federal contract, but federal questions answered through local accounts.
What State Law Says
Rules vary by state. California’s SB 34, passed in 2015, bars local agencies from sharing ALPR data with federal or out-of-state agencies, and the California Attorney General sued the El Cajon Police Department in 2025 over alleged sharing. Many states have no specific ALPR law at all.
Questions for Your City Council
- Is our system set to share data with federal or out-of-state agencies?
- How long is data kept?
- Are search logs public, and does each search require a stated reason and case number?
- Has anyone searched our data on behalf of a federal agency?
Supporters credit the cameras with recovering stolen cars and finding missing people. Critics see mass location tracking. Either way, the people who paid for the system should know who uses it.
Keep Digging With Truth Agent
This article is a starting point. Truth Agent puts the public record at your fingertips, including the Constitution, federal law, regulations, court opinions and oversight reports, so you can track surveillance legislation and your own state’s license plate reader rules without relying on anyone’s summary, including ours.
Read Next on Truth Trench
- The Bill of Rights, Amendment by Amendment
- REAL ID, the $45 ConfirmID Fee and Airport Facial Recognition: What TSA Collects and How to Opt Out
- What Is FISA? Understanding America’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance System
