This week, a federal judge determined that a sheriff’s deputy in Tulsa, Oklahoma, infringed upon a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching for her license plate through Flock Safety without a warrant.
According to a report, this decision is significant as it marks one of the first instances in which a federal judge has declared the use of Flock searches unconstitutional, although it does not set a legal precedent.
In her ruling, Judge Sara Hill stated that the deputy was required to obtain a warrant before accessing the Flock database for the woman’s license plate, noting that he had “no apparent reason” for the search “other than the fact that [the woman’s vehicle] had a California license plate.”
Following this, the deputy used the woman’s travel history within the Flock system to justify investigating her vehicle, purportedly leading to the discovery of 91 pounds of methamphetamine. However, Judge Hill emphasized that any evidence gathered after the Flock search “must be suppressed as the fruit of a poisonous tree.”
Judge Hill expressed broader concerns regarding warrantless searches in the Flock database, stating that monitoring individuals’ locations, even in public areas, becomes “constitutionally problematic” when law enforcement can passively and indiscriminately record location data over a long period and use it for any convenient purpose.
She remarked, “This constitutes a form of indiscriminate mass surveillance. It is not focused on a particular individual like in the Supreme Court case [Carpenter v. United States], which addressed government access to location data from mobile devices]. Instead, it is a system that gathers information on all vehicles that pass by any camera at all times, making that data accessible to law enforcement as needed.”
Judge Hill’s remarks echo a rising wave of criticism against Flock from various political factions. Several local and state governments, including those in Florida and Texas, have declared their intention to discontinue the technology’s use. Additionally, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont recently introduced the Block Flock Act, which would prohibit federal agencies from employing automated license plate readers like Flock.
Garretty Langley, the CEO of Flock, has called for finding a “compromise” between privacy and public safety, offering apologies to women who have faced harassment by officials using the Flock system. In light of these cancellations, Flock has also reportedly proposed voluntary buyouts to reduce its workforce.
