404Media on June 17 published findings from a public records request to the Redlands Police Department, in California, that revealed yet more instances of abuse of Flock’s data sharing features (archive link).
On February 3, the Escondido Police Department was able to search Redlands’ Flock surveillance network, and provided their search reason as “immigration protest”, in an apparent attempt to identify vehicles that had attended a “No Kings” protest.
The findings were the result of a public records request for Redlands’ Flock audit logs.
The data also revealed:
- On February 7, North Carolina’s Raleigh Police Department searched 75,819 cameras and 6,264 Flock networks across the country, including Redlands Police Department. Their search reason was given as “ICE”. Redlands Police Department shared access to their Flock data in violation of California state law (SB 34).
- On January 29, Nolensville Police Department in Tennessee likewise searched Redlands’ cameras with “ICE” given as their search reason.
- And Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, in Georgia, repeatedly searched Redlands’ Flock data, with the reason again given as “ICE,”
We emphasize once again that these findings are only possible as long as law enforcement personnel continue to use obvious search terms like “ICE” or “HSI”. Flock allows its users to enter any search justification, with no additional oversight, and the most common search reason is simply “investigation” — vague enough to keep officers out of trouble while they continue to abuse this system.