Out-of-state police access Silicon Valley license plate readers - San Jose Spotlight

"Mountain View officials revealed last month Flock had included their camera network in a national "lookup" setting without the city's permission, allowing unauthorized law enforcement agencies to access their data. San José Spotlight has learned the practice repeated elsewhere in the county. Police in Massachusetts, Georgia and other states appeared hundreds of times in a camera network audit of neighboring Los Altos, whose 18 cameras remain operational."

"California law has barred police departments from sharing license plate reading camera data with out-of-state or federal agencies for any reason since 2016, under Senate Bill 34. The law has been invoked in debates about the cameras' use and their role in federal immigration enforcement."

""This looks unlawful," Brian Hofer, executive director of Bay Area civil rights group Secure Justice, told San José Spotlight. He reviewed multiple the camera records at this news outlet's request. "It definitely looks like Los Altos wasn't paying attention." Los Altos officials said Flock had enabled a national and statewide "lookup" feature on their network of cameras without notifying the city or seeking its permission."

Flock Safety, an automated license plate reading camera company, is losing contracts with multiple Silicon Valley jurisdictions including Santa Clara County, Los Altos Hills, and Mountain View due to unlawful data-sharing practices. The company enabled national and statewide "lookup" settings on camera networks without authorization, allowing out-of-state police agencies to access data. California law has prohibited sharing license plate reading data with out-of-state or federal agencies since 2016. Audits revealed police from Massachusetts, Georgia, and other states conducted hundreds of searches on Los Altos' camera network, including searches for immigration violations. Civil rights advocates characterize the practice as unlawful, and affected cities have disabled the unauthorized settings.

Read at San Jose Spotlight