Big Brother Is Watching!

This is what I have been warning about! Traffic cameras are watching where ever you go. I was snapped on the way back from the Cape.

Some sanctuary states discover feds mining local license plate data

November 7, 2025

PBS Heard on All Things Considered

By Martin Kaste

Police rely on license plate cameras to help solve crimes. Recently, lookups of this data have surged by federal agencies, who are potentially using it for immigration enforcement in sanctuary states.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: Local police have become increasingly reliant on license plate tracking cameras to solve crimes, and federal investigators have noticed. There's been a recent spike in federal searches of local data, which means police departments in some sanctuary states may find themselves illegally sharing information for immigration enforcement. NPR's Martin Kaste has the story.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: This isn't new tech. For years now, police have used automatic license plate readers to log when and where random passing cars are seen in traffic. But what is new is how common the cameras have become.

PHIL NEFF: Some of the comments you see are, well, these are only tracking criminals. But that's not true. It's everyone.

I have been warning about this, there has to be laws on who can see the data (i.e. Court order, subpoena, etc.).

NEFF: Over the summer, hundreds if not thousands of searches by U.S. Border Patrol - and it would have keywords that were sometimes as vague as, like, investigation or targeting.

[...]

KASTE: The police departments pointed to what they saw as a lack of clarity about who had access through a setting called national lookup. The data system they're using is run by Flock Safety. That's the company that supplies the license plate readers.

HOLLY BALIN: Flock has never opted any agencies into sharing relationships that they did not opt themselves into.

KASTE: Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Balin says these departments chose to allow access to federal agencies, which is normal and legal in Washington when it's a criminal matter, such as human trafficking.

BALIN: We see agencies cooperate with federal agencies for these complex cases that are very much within the purview of their laws. But again, that's not Flock, to determine whether agencies cooperate with federal agencies or they don't. That is entirely up to them.

So the question... how many towns check the box "Do not share" King5 reports that courts ruled that the data from traffic camera are public records!

Data collected by automated license plate readers used by police departments across Washington state must be made public, a judge in Skagit County ruled on Thursday. 

It's a decision that could have far-reaching implications for law enforcement surveillance practices.

Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski of Skagit County Superior Court ruled images captured by Flock brand cameras qualified as public records subject to the state's Public Records Act, siding with a tattoo artist who had sought access to the data from multiple police agencies.

[...]

"I felt like that's violating my privacy, everyone's privacy, regardless if you are obeying the law," Rodriguez said. "It's not like they are a traffic light camera that takes picture of all the people that are breaking the law by speeding or whatever. It's taking pictures of every single vehicle that passes by."

Emily Guildner, an attorney representing Sedro Woolley and Stanwood, argued that releasing the images publicly would violate individuals' privacy and could enable malicious actors such as stalkers. She said the present court case involves "a fairly specific issue regarding a very valuable and effective enforcement tool."

Now I want you to think for a second; a ex-husband check up on their ex-spouse or looking at who is going in and out a a fraternity clinic? What about a trans clinic?