A license plate reader company allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to access reader data in violation of Illinois law, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said Monday.
In a news release, Giannoulias said Flock Safety, which operates the nation’s largest automated license plate reader system, permitted CBP to access cameras on Illinois roads and surveil drivers. Following a sample audit of 12 law enforcement agencies, the secretary of state’s office found Flock didn’t have the proper safeguards in place for datasharing.
That was “compounded by the fact that the company was running a pilot program with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which Flock leadership was unaware of,” Giannoulias said.
Giannoulias then ordered the company to shut off the federal agency’s access to cameras in Illinois.
Flock has paused its pilot program with CBP and other federal agencies nationwide.
Following the audit, Giannoulias has urged police departments to re-examine their agreements with Flock and what access they grant law enforcement to their ALPR cameras to make sure they do not violate the state’s Trust Act, his office stated. The measure restricts local law enforcement in Illinois from collaborating with federal authorities – including ICE – on immigration enforcement without a court warrant.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley posted a statement on the company’s website, saying, in part, the company “didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users.”
The complete statement can be found below:
“Over the last few weeks, there have been conflicting reports in the media about Flock’s relationship with federal agencies, and some of our public statements inadvertently provided inaccurate information. We reviewed the same audit logs that enable our customers to conduct reviews of their product usage to gain a full picture of what happened.
While it is true that Flock does not presently have a contractual relationship with any U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies, we have engaged in limited pilots with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to assist those agencies in combatting human trafficking and fentanyl distribution.
We clearly communicated poorly. We also didn’t create distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users.
I appreciate the sensitivities surrounding local and federal cooperation on law enforcement matters, and I understand that in order to allow communities to align with their laws and societal values, these definitions and product features are critical.
As of last week, all ongoing federal pilots have been paused.”
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