STATEMENT FROM EYES OFF EUGENE ON SENATOR WYDEN’S AGREEMENT WITH FLOCK SAFETY

JULY 25, 2025

Earlier today, Senator Wyden’s office announced an agreement (archive) with Flock Safety that is similar to an Illinois agreement intended to protect innocent residents from abuses of Flock’s surveillance network.

The senator identified two serious consequences of Flock’s automated license plate reader system, including the use of data by ICE in deportation efforts and by other states in prosecuting abortion-seekers.

While we appreciate Senator Wyden’s efforts, this agreement is ineffective and founded on a poor understanding of Flock’s product.

Flock Safety has coordinated with police departments across the country to install over 80,000 surveillance devices in our communities. These devices form a network that observes every vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian. This data is then fed to Flock’s systems for further AI analysis.

Flock provides access to this data for police agencies and other customers, and those agencies may choose to provide automated access to external agencies, forming a cooperative, broad network that is accessible to anyone at any partner agency. This kind of data sharing is a key feature for Flock’s products.

Accessing this data requires only a “search reason.” No warrant, oversight, or supervision is required.

Our own research has found that the most frequent “search reason” provided by law enforcement officers is simply “investigation” or “inv” or similar. No case number or further detail is required. In the case of the Eugene Police Department, our research has found that over 800 of their recent 1200 searches gave “investigation” for the search reason, with another 50 for “suspicious vehicle.”

In Flock’s own words, their agreement with Illinois “…means Illinois data is automatically excluded if someone enters an improper search reason.” This measure is inadequate and is the only guarantee that Flock is capable of providing. Getting the same guarantees from this mass surveillance company gives Oregon residents only the illusion of protection.

The only way to fully protect our data from these abuses is to not collect it. We would welcome a conversation with Senator Wyden so that we can work together to protect Eugene, and all other Oregon residents, from this predatory system.