A North Bay newspaper says Flock cameras operated by the Marin County Sheriff’s Department were accessed thousands of times by out of state and federal agencies. Critics say that’s exactly the scenario they’ve been warning about.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Office says its 31 Flock cameras have been a game-changing tool. But they acknowledge that, somehow, out-of-state agencies accessed data from the county’s cameras for nine weeks without the department’s permission.
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“I feel sad for our community. I definitely feel that our shared sense of safety and trust has eroded,” Tara Evans said. Evans was among three residents who sued and later reached a settlement with the county in 2022.
“That case we actually found that the sheriff’s office was sharing driver license plate information out of state for the express purpose of assisting with federal immigration enforcement,” Nick Hildago with ACLU said.
The Point Reyes Light newspaperdiscovered that multiple out-of-state agencies conducted more than 250,000 searches of Marin County’s camera data in late 2024.
“It is a menace to the safety of California residents for the Marin sheriff to be violating state law and letting license plate reader data leave our state and go to federal and out of state police departments,” Adam Schwartz with Electronic Frontier Foundation said.
The Marin County Sheriff’s Department acknowledged they learned in late 2024 that a breech had taken place for nine weeks without their knowledge in a statement that said, “upon discovering the issue, we again immediately deactivated the ability for out-of-state agencies to view our limited data.”
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The sheriff’s office says they are still waiting to hear from Flock why it happened, but says, “Protecting Marin County residents’ privacy is our responsibility, and we remain committed to transparency and accountability.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU have sent a letter to the department demanding answers.
“We have no idea whether these were run to prosecute someone seeking an abortion to assist with ICE to track people who exercise their first amendment rights to protest or what have you. We just don’t know,” Hidalgo said.
Evans says she’ll keep fighting to protect her community and says she’s considering filing another lawsuit.
