# Mountain View suspends license plate readers; agencies accessed flock camera data without consent
# ABC7 News Bay Area — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geiFRnM1BEo

ANSWERS. AND SOME MAJOR CHANGES.
THE CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW IS
SHUTTING DOWN THEIR LICENSE
PLATE READER SYSTEM FOR NOW.
CITY OFFICIALS SAID AN AUDIT
DISCOVERED THAT FOR SEVERAL
MONTHS IN 2024, MULTIPLE
FEDERAL AGENCIES ACCESSED DATA
FROM A FLOCK LICENSE PLATE
READER. THE AGENCY'S DIDN'T
INCLUDE IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS
ENFORCEMENT, BUT A
REPRESENTATIVE WITH THE
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
SAID THIS IS CONCERNING.
WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT
LICENSE PLATE READER DATA IS
PLAYING WITH FIRE.
THE CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW
SAID THERE WAS A NATIONWIDE
SEARCH SETTING THAT WAS TURNED
ON WITHOUT PERMISSION.
NOW, FORTUNATELY, WE HAVE A
STATE LAW THAT WAS ENACTED IN
ABOUT 2014 CALLED SB 34, AND IT
SAYS THAT POLICE AGENCIES IN
CALIFORNIA CANNOT GIVE THEIR
LICENSE PLATE DATA TO FEDERAL
AGENCIES. BUT WHAT WE'RE SEEING
HERE IS THAT SOMETIMES THE
WRONG BOX GET CHECKED.
ON MONDAY, THE MOUNTAIN VIEW
CHIEF OF POLICE POSTED A
MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY. HE
SAID EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THE
CITY'S FLOCK CAMERAS WILL BE
TURNED OFF, CITING HE NO LONGER
HAS CONFIDENCE IN THE VENDOR.
HE'S DEFERRING TO THE CITY
COUNCIL FOR FURTHER DIRECTION.
WHAT WAS FLOCK'S RESPONSE TO
ALL THIS? WHY WAS THIS BACKDOOR
BUILT IN IN THE FIRST PLACE? DO
WE HAVE LEGAL REMEDIES?
LAST WEEK, SANTA CLARA
COUNTY SUPERVISOR BETTY YOUNG
PUSHED FOR A MORE WIDESPREAD
PAUSE ON FLOCK CAMERAS.
AND DURING THAT TIME, I'VE
DIRECTED OUR COUNTY COUNCIL AND
OUR ADMINISTRATION TO DO A FULL
SCALE INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT
FLOCK HAS BEEN DOING. AND IF,
AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE
QUESTION IS, CAN WE TRUST THEM
BASED ON THEIR RECORD AND
HISTORY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND
OTHER LOCAL JURISDICTIONS?
IN A STATEMENT TO ABC SEVEN
NEWS, A FLOCK SPOKESPERSON SAID
SHARING SETTINGS WITHIN FLOCK
ARE ALWAYS UNDER THE CONTROL OF
THE AGENCY. WE ARE PROUD OF THE
POSITIVE IMPACT MOUNTAIN VIEW
PD HAS MADE WITH OUR TECHNOLOGY,
AND WE HOPE TO RESOLVE THE
CONCERNS OF THE POLICE
DEPARTMENT DIRECTLY WITH