Mountain View officials allege federal, state agencies accessed Flock camera data without consent
The city of Mountain View wants the public to know that data collected by its Flock cameras was accessed by federal agencies — and apparently without the city’s consent.
An internal audit also found that the data was accessed by California law enforcement, which was not approved by the Mountain View Police Department.
From August to November 2024, the City of Mountain View says multiple federal law enforcement agencies accessed a Flock license plate reader camera located at San Antonio Road and Charleston Road.
The city says an internal audit discovered a nationwide search setting enabled by Flock Safety. The city declined an interview request, but in a statement said: “This setting was enabled without the authorization or knowledge of (the Mountain View Police Department). This is a system failure on the part of Flock Safety.”
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According to the city, federal agencies that accessed the camera data include the 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 air force base in Ohio.
Mountain View police also found that a statewide search function “was not operating within the system controls we had established.”
This allowed California law enforcement to access data from 29 of the city’s 30 Flock cameras, which was not approved by the city.
The camera settings have since been changed.
“There simply aren’t enough safeguards. They have the technology to do what they want, when they want, how they want. That’s exactly what’s true. And that’s exactly the reality we all have to operate in right now,” said Cat Brooks of the Anti-Police-Terrorism Project, a coalition focused on eradicating police violence.
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While Mountain View says it worked hard with Flock Safety early in the program to design a model that strictly prohibits out-of-state data sharing, Brooks says simply fixing data settings isn’t enough to solve the problem.
“The city can show goodwill to the death. Its intentions don’t matter,” Brooks said. “If they collect this data, it is not possible to protect this data from anyone who wants it and wants it badly enough.”
A Flock Safety spokesperson released this statement to ABC7 News: “Sharing settings within Flock are always within the agency’s control. We are proud of the positive impact Mountain View PD has had with our technology, and we hope to resolve the police department’s concerns directly with them.”
The city concludes by saying: “It is unclear at this time whether the relationship between the City of Mountain View and Flock Safety will continue. In the coming weeks, MVPD will present a review of the ALPR pilot program to the City Council.
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