FBI seeks US access to license plate cameras, wants “more soon”

The FBI intelligence division’s plan to gain access to more surveillance cameras could help increase that information sharing. Like the FBI documentsits intelligence division shares information with various federal, state, local, and national agencies.

Flock: Sharing and “infiltrating” the local police force

Flock itself provided access to Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, the Secret Service, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service as part of a pilot last year. Flock confirmed the pilot to the office of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), according to Wyden. The sheep say so it has government clients “including National Parks, Veterans Affairs hospitals, and military bases,” but does not work with ICE.

Federal efforts to obtain information may be limited by corporate policies. Flock says communities that use its cameras can provide access to government agencies, but sharing with government agencies is blocked by default. In March, The sheep said it was “defining a new relationship with federal law enforcement,” including conditions for maintaining local control over data sharing.

“Flock data belongs to the organization that owns the cameras. There is no back door in Flock. Any access is only authorized and signed in by the local organization,” the company said.

We’ve reached out to Flock and Motorola Solutions and will update this story if they comment.

There are also government laws restricting access to data. California bans it local and state agencies in sharing ALPR camera data with foreign or federal law enforcement agencies. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) it said in January 2024 that many law enforcement agencies in California violated the law by sharing ALPR information with agencies outside the state.

A Virginia Law enacted last year set similar limits. The FBI’s request for proposals said contractors must identify where servers are stored to ensure compliance with state and local laws on credentialing data.