MOUNTAIN View halted its entire Flock license plate reader network after discovering that Flock Safety had been sharing data with hundreds of law enforcement agencies, including federal ones, without permission, with 30 cameras affected.
Two incidents of unauthorized sharing came to light, including a national lookup setting toggled on for a single camera at Charleston and San Antonio roads, which Flock allegedly turned on without informing the city; according to SB 34, California law bars sharing ALPR data with out-of-state or federal entities.
Mountain View’s policy chief also noted that the city’s statewide lookup feature was active on 29 of the 30 cameras for 17 months, allowing more than 250 agencies to run an estimated 600,000 searches in a year, though no data agreements existed with Mountain View.
Santa Cruz became the first city in California to terminate its contract with Flock last month, and Flock’s CEO reportedly acknowledged last August that undisclosed pilot programmes with Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations had been run. The cameras will remain offline until the City Council meets on 24 February 2026.