California City Shuts Down Surveillance Cameras After Feds Accessed Data Without Permission

What Happened in Mountain View

Mountain View, California has shut down all 30 of its Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras after discovering that federal and state agencies accessed the city's surveillance data without authorization for 17 months.

An audit revealed that Flock Safety had configured one camera to a "nationwide" setting without the police department's knowledge or permission. Between August and November 2024, that camera's data was accessed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offices in Kentucky and Tennessee, Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, the U.S. GSA Office of Inspector General, Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, and an Ohio Air Force Base.

Worse still: Flock had also activated a statewide lookup tool without permission, allowing more than 250 California law enforcement agencies to search Mountain View's license plate data.

The Law That Was Broken

California law specifically prohibits ALPR information from being sold, shared, or transferred to out of state or federal agencies without a court order or warrant issued by a California court.

Mountain View had implemented even stricter policies, requiring prior authorization from other California agencies before they could access the city's data. Flock's unauthorized configuration bypassed both protections.

"I personally no longer have confidence in this particular vendor," said Police Chief Mike Canfield, apologizing to residents for providing "false assurances about data sharing limits" based on inaccurate information from Flock.

Why This Matters Beyond Mountain View

The incident exposes a fundamental problem with surveillance technology: the gap between what local governments think they're buying and what they actually get.

Mountain View's city council specifically chose policies to limit data sharing. They believed they had contracted for a local surveillance system. What they got was a nationwide surveillance network that any participating agency could query.

"A central lesson is, if your community builds a surveillance system that tracks people's information, you should expect federal authorities today to potentially exploit that for their own ends," said Matt Cagle, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.

The Immigration Enforcement Connection

The timing of this discovery is significant. Concerns about immigration enforcement have driven multiple cities to reconsider their relationships with Flock Safety.

California law prohibits using ALPR data for immigration enforcement purposes. But if that data is accessible to federal agencies outside the state's oversight, local restrictions become meaningless.

The California Highway Patrol has issued a warning to Flock over data sharing with the federal government. Santa Clara County has put its Flock contract renewal on hold. Santa Cruz and Los Altos Hills became some of the first municipalities to sever ties with Flock entirely, with Los Altos Hills taking all cameras offline immediately after a January 15 decision.

A Growing Backlash

Mountain View isn't alone. Cities across the country are reconsidering their Flock contracts:

• Austin, Texas: Discontinued Flock cameras over concerns about immigration and abortion enforcement applications
• Eugene, Oregon: Ended Flock partnership citing data sharing concerns
• Flagstaff, Arizona: Removed Flock cameras after similar concerns
• Cambridge, Massachusetts: Terminated contract over data governance issues

Some cities have reported that Flock left cameras active even after they requested removal—raising questions about what happens to data from terminated contracts.

Flock's Response

Flock Safety said it is "working through Mountain View's specific questions and concerns directly with the city" and hopes to resume their partnership after the council meets on February 24.

The company has not publicly explained how the unauthorized nationwide access was configured, why it happened, or how many other cities might be affected by similar configuration issues.

The Bigger Picture

License plate readers capture every vehicle that passes them. Over time, this data creates a detailed record of where people travel—work, medical appointments, places of worship, political meetings, friends' homes.

When cities contract with companies like Flock, they're trusting that vendor to honor data governance policies. Mountain View's experience shows that trust may be misplaced.

The cameras may have caught criminals. They may have solved cases. But they also created a surveillance infrastructure that—despite local policy choices—became available to federal agencies across the country without warrants, court orders, or local consent.

What Happens Next

Mountain View's cameras will remain offline until the City Council meeting on February 24. The council will decide whether to terminate the Flock contract entirely, renegotiate terms with stronger data controls, or find an alternative vendor.

Other cities are watching. If Silicon Valley—home to many of the engineers who build surveillance technology—can't trust its surveillance vendors, other communities may question whether they can either.