Flock cameras collect a significant amount of data about where every car goes. The question is — where does that data go, and how is it used?
In California, police departments can't share ALPR data with federal agencies. They also can't share it with out-of-state agencies. State law is supposed to protect the values of California communities.
That's all according to Rob Bonta, the California Attorney General, referencing SB34, signed into law over a decade ago. Bonta filed a lawsuit against the city of El Cajon for allegedly violating that law.
But when asked, El Cajon PD said they shared the data with out-of-state agencies because they interpret the law differently.
"To be clear, the Attorney General’s lawsuit filed against El Cajon PD has nothing to do with immigration enforcement. The lawsuit is over an interpretation of SB 34, which is about sharing ALPR data, not immigration enforcement. SB 34 should not be confused with SB 54, “California Value’s Act.” The El Cajon Police Department complies with SB 54. Due to ongoing litigation, the Department nor the City is in a position to comment on the SB 34 lawsuit," Lieutenant Nick Sprecco said.
When I asked Bonta's office about this lawsuit back in July, they said that SB 34 was passed for a reason.
"When information about Californians leaves the state, we no longer have any say over how it is used or shared. That’s why the California Legislature passed SB 34. We look forward to making our case in court. However, we do not have any updates to share at this time."
Yesterday, Flock talked to me and a number of other reporters about the possibility that San Diego may cancel its contract. El Cajon came up — they said they had turned off certain sharing permissions for El Cajon while this issue plays out in court.
That really means El Cajon can still share data with other states. So El Cajon could share it with Arizona, but Arizona couldn't share it with anyone else. And El Cajon doesn't act like a window into other organizations in California that have Flock systems, according to a spokesperson for the company.
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