"When we obtained datasets representing more than 12 million searches logged by more than 3,900 agencies between December 2024 and October 2025, the patterns were unmistakable. Agencies logged hundreds of searches related to political demonstrations-the 50501 protests in February, Hands Off protests in April, and No Kings protests in June and October. Nineteen agencies conducted dozens of searches specifically tied to No Kings protests alone. Sometimes searches explicitly referenced protest activity; other times, agencies used vague terminology to obscure surveillance of constitutionally protected speech."
"A Johnson County official ran two searches with the note "had an abortion, search for female." The second search probed 6,809 networks, accessing 83,345 cameras across nearly the entire country. This case revealed Flock's fundamental danger: a single query accesses more than 83,000 cameras spanning almost the entire nation, with minimal oversight and maximum potential for abuse-particularly when weaponized against people seeking reproductive healthcare."
"In November, EFF partnered with the ACLU of Northern California to file a lawsuit against San Jose and its police department, challenging warrantless searches of millions of ALPR records. Between June 5, 2024 and June 17, 2025, SJPD and other California law enforcement agencies searched San Jose's database 3,965,519 times -a staggering figure illustrating the vast scope of warrantless surveillance enabled by Flock's infrastructure."
More than 12 million searches by over 3,900 agencies between December 2024 and October 2025 reveal systematic monitoring of political demonstrations and other protected activity. Agencies sometimes used explicit protest labels and other times vague terms to conceal surveillance of constitutionally protected speech. A Johnson County query annotated "had an abortion, search for female" probed 6,809 networks and accessed 83,345 cameras, demonstrating that a single query can reach over 83,000 cameras nationwide with little oversight. Illinois launched an audit after cross-access by federal agencies, civil lawsuits challenged warrantless ALPR searches, and investigations spurred municipal resistance to Flock deployments.
Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation
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