Federal judge calls Flock 'indiscriminate mass surveillance'

In a recent ruling, a federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma has declared that a sheriff’s deputy violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by conducting indiscriminate mass surveillance using Flock Safety. The decision is not a binding precedent, but it marks one of the first instances where a federal judge deemed a Flock search unconstitutional.

Judge Sara Hill ruled that the deputy should have obtained a warrant prior to searching the Flock database for the woman’s license plate, as he had no valid reason to do so other than the fact that the vehicle had a California license plate.

The search of the woman’s travel history in the Flock system was used to justify the subsequent search of her car, where 91 pounds of meth were allegedly discovered. However, Judge Hill emphasized that all evidence obtained post-Flock search must be suppressed, as it was derived from a "poisonous tree." The judge also expressed concern over warrantless searches of the Flock database, stating that tracking people’s location, even in public, becomes constitutionally problematic when law enforcement can indiscriminately and passively catalog an individual’s whereabouts over an extended period of time.

Judge Hill referred to this as "indiscriminate mass surveillance," which differs from targeted surveillance, as was highlighted in the Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States. The technology, known for its ability to collect information about all vehicles passing by network-connected cameras, serves up the data to law enforcement on-demand.

This approach has garnered criticism from various political factions, including local and state governments such as Florida and Texas, which have announced their intention to discontinue the use of the technology. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democrat from Vermont, introduced the Block Flock Act, which would prohibit federal agencies from employing automated license plate readers like Flock.

Flock CEO Garretty Langley has proposed a compromise between privacy and safety and apologized for the incidents that led to the judge’s ruling. In response to the growing backlash, Flock has reportedly provided voluntary employee buyouts to reduce its workforce.