The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) today welcomed the Mountain View Police Department’s decision to suspend its use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras.
The move follows the city of Mountain View’s disclosure that hundreds of federal and state law enforcement agencies accessed local ALPR data without the department’s knowledge or consent.
SEE: Northern California police chief suspends use of ALPR cameras after outside agencies access data
The city said an internal audit revealed Flock Safety had configured Mountain View’s ALPR system to allow broader data sharing than the police department had authorized. As a result, outside agencies accessed local ALPR data beyond the city’s approved parameters.
In a letter to the community, Mountain View Police Chief Mike Canfield said he turned off all Flock Safety cameras effective immediately, citing a loss of confidence in the system. He added that the program will remain paused until the city council provides further direction.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Policy Coordinator Musa Tariq said:
“At a time when federal enforcement agencies are expanding surveillance and enforcement nationwide, resulting in fatal use-of-force incidents by federal agents, local governments have a responsibility to protect residents’ civil rights and privacy. Mountain View’s decision has reinforced that cities should not continue using systems that expose residents to mass surveillance or unchecked federal access.”
The organization noted that ALPRs enable mass location tracking and long-term data aggregation that can be weaponized against immigrant communities, political dissenters, and marginalized groups, particularly when vendor controls fail and data becomes accessible to outside agencies. California law places strict limits on when ALPR information may be shared with out-of-state or federal agencies.
CAIR-SFBA also emphasized that Mountain View’s decision reflects broader concerns about warrantless, dragnet surveillance. CAIR California has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Jose challenging its ALPR program and San Jose’s license plate surveillance practices as violations of Californians’ constitutional right to privacy.
The Mountain View decision follows actions by the city of Santa Cruz to terminate its contract with Flock Safety over civil rights and data-sharing concerns, underscoring the growing recognition across California that ALPR systems pose serious risks when oversight fails and companies act unilaterally.
“Santa Cruz set the precedent. Mountain View reinforced it,” Tariq said. “Now other cities must follow suit by auditing their systems, disclosing who can access residents’ data, and suspending or terminating ALPR programs that cannot guarantee transparency and local control. Californians deserve the trust that local governments are not quietly feeding their data into federal surveillance pipelines.”
CAIR-SFBA called on municipalities across the Bay Area and statewide to immediately audit ALPR vendor settings and access logs, publicly disclose any unauthorized access, and adopt clear policies preventing local surveillance data from being accessed or used by federal immigration or intelligence agencies.
CAIR-SFBA is an office of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-SFBA Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, 408.498.5779, ladam@cair.com