US judge rules a police Flock search was unconstitutional mass surveillance
A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a deputy’s warrantless search of Flock’s licence plate reader network broke the US Constitution. In an order dated 1 October, Judge Sara Hill called the system “a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance”. Jason Koebler of 404 Media first reported the ruling.
“It is a tool that collects information about all vehicles that pass by any network-connected camera at all times, and it serves up the information to law enforcement on demand,” Hill wrote.
The ruling does not bind other courts. But it is one of the first times a federal judge has found a Flock search unconstitutional, 404 Media reported. Neither the Supreme Court nor the Tenth Circuit appeals court has decided the question, Hill wrote. Nearly every court to look at it so far has said plate reader searches are not searches under the Fourth Amendment. That includes three other...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to thenextweb.com. To see the full text click HERE
