Alameda County Delays Decision on Flock Safety Camera Contract Amid Privacy Concerns
Supervisors postpone a one-year extension sought by the Sheriff’s Office as critics warn of federal data access and growing surveillance risks
☕️MORNING BUZZ
Vol. VI, No. 1,195
—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday postponed action on a proposed contract extension allowing the Sheriff’s Office to continue using automated license plate reader cameras from Flock Safety, after supervisors and members of the public raised concerns about data privacy, federal access and oversight.
The Sheriff’s Office is seeking a one-year extension of the contract through June 30, at a cost of $303,600, following the expiration of a two-year, $550,600 agreement last summer. The cameras are currently used in unincorporated areas of the county.
Supervisor Elisa Márquez moved to delay the item, saying the proposal had prompted numerous unresolved questions and required additional time for the sheriff to respond. The board tentatively set April 21 as the next hearing date.
Public comment during the morning session was dominated by speakers urging the county not to renew the contract. Privacy advocates warned that license plate data collected by the cameras can be shared and stored in national databases, potentially accessible to federal agencies.
Brian Hofer, a privacy advocate for Secure Justice and former member of the Oakland Privacy Commission, accused Sheriff Yesenia Sánchez of repeated violations of SB 34, the state law that prohibits the sharing of surveillance data with entities outside of California
—Citing a statewide analysis by his organization, Secure Justice found that Alameda County shared its data with 3,913 non-California agencies.
“ACSO does not share data with ICE or other federal agencies. Per CA Law, our policies, and the contract with Flock, our data cannot be accessed by any outside agency without ACSO approval,” Sánchez said.
The Sheriff’s Office was made aware of Secure Justice’s concerns and asked Flock Safety to deactivate the National Lookup Tool to access its data in March 2025, according to Sánchez. The Sheriff’s Office met with Flock Safety’s CEO in December to address additional concerns.
—The debate echoes disputes in Oakland, where city officials recently approved additional license plate readers amid public opposition, and in Mountain View, which unplugged its Flock cameras after raising concerns about federal access to locally collected data.
Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas warned that while license plate data may not identify individuals on its own, the aggregation of such information posed broader risks.
“These tech companies are stacking this information,” Bas said. “All of this data is potentially being collected and leading to the ability of this administration to conduct more mass surveillance and profile people who they may be trying to deport or prevent from seeking reproductive health care.”
Other supervisors urged caution in characterizing the risks. Supervisor David Haubert said claims that the data was freely accessible or automatically shared with federal immigration authorities were overstated. “I don’t think that’s true,” he said.
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