Law enforcement officials I’ve spoken with say ALPR camera technology has been around for a long time and has been very useful for them. Cybersecurity experts have told me they share the concerns of many Americans who feel ALPR cameras could violate their Fourth Amendment rights. Well, in an order last week, a federal judge agreed with that.
Federal Judge Calls Flock ALPR Cameras Mass Surveillance
“This is a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance.” That’s how a federal district court judge described automated license plate reader technology in an order issued Thursday. New technologies let police follow everyone everywhere all the time. That is the definition of mass surveillance.
Thousands of ALPR cameras watch roadways across the United States capturing vehicle license plates while noting the location, date, and time. Companies like Flock Safety sell the cameras and provide a database police can search using a plate number or vehicle description. The leading vendor in the space is collecting 20 billion plus data points on people’s movements every single month.
Federal Judge Statement – Deputy did Violate Fourth Amendment Rights
Judge Sarah Hill found a sheriff’s deputy in Oklahoma violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights when he searched Flock and another ALPR camera database without a warrant or probable cause. This is a huge opinion.
The deputy started following this SUV and searched the databases for her license plate after his mobile ALPR camera captured the number. Court documents showed the deputy found data showing the vehicle passing at least 50 different Flock camera locations before he witnessed any violation. The federal judge writing “it becomes constitutionally problematic when law enforcement can indiscriminately and passively catalog your whereabouts over an extended period of time and then use that information for any purpose whenever convenient.” The woman was later pulled over and arrested on a drug charge.
On Thursday the federal judge tossed out any evidence collected after the license plate search writing “no doubt ALPR camera technology comes with remarkable benefits that the court cannot ignore but the Fourth Amendment requires courts to draw a line when the cost is too great.”
Courts are going to be thinking a lot harder about these Fourth Amendment rights issues going forward and I think we’re going to continue to see courts at the federal and state levels pushing back against license plate reader mass surveillance.
Flock Camera Statement on Case
In a statement to 11 News Investigates, Flock told us it was not party in this case but does not expect it to establish new precedent either. Flock writing quote the ruling goes against the overwhelming weight of authority in similar cases across the country including multiple recent decisions in Oklahoma and we expect it will be appealed and ultimately overturned.
