TL;DR: Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) have error rates as high as 37%. Innocent families have been pulled over at gunpoint because cameras misread a single character. And now these same error-prone systems are being used to track people across state lines, including a Texas sheriff who searched 83,000 cameras to find a woman who had an abortion in Illinois, where it's legal.
The Abortion Tracking Case
In early 2025, a sheriff's deputy in Johnson County, Texas, just south of Fort Worth, typed a search into Flock Safety's nationwide surveillance network [1].
The search reason: "had an abortion, search for female."
The deputy accessed more than 83,000 automated license plate reader cameras across 6,809 different networks maintained by Flock Safety. That includes cameras in states where abortion is legal and protected, like Illinois and Washington.
The woman was found. No charges were filed. But that's not the point.
The point is that a single officer in Texas can search license plate data from cameras in Illinois, a state that specifically passed laws to prevent exactly this kind of surveillance, to track down someone for doing something legal in the state where they did it.
What Illinois Law Says
In 2023, Illinois became the first state to make it illegal for law enforcement to use ALPRs to track people seeking abortions or to criminalize immigration status [2]. The law was supposed to protect people from exactly this scenario.
It didn't work.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias stated: "Despite having laws on the books that our office championed, making it illegal for police to use ALPR cameras to locate individuals seeking abortion care, [Texas police] managed to find a way to circumvent the law and collect Illinois license plate data illegally" [3].
Flock's Response
After the story broke, Flock Safety and the Sheriff's Office claimed the search was actually for a "missing person", a family member who had self-administered an abortion and run away. They said they feared she was hurt. She was found safe [4].
The explanation doesn't change what happened: Texas law enforcement accessed Illinois surveillance data for an abortion-related investigation. The search field literally said "had an abortion."
The Aftermath
Since the audit was initiated in May 2025:
- 47 agencies have been removed from access to Illinois ALPR data
- A new search filtering tool prevents access to Illinois data for abortion or immigration reasons
- AI-powered auditing alerts are being rolled out nationwide
- Case numbers are now required for searches
EFF also successfully pressured 75 California police departments to stop sharing ALPR data with anti-abortion states [1].
The Staggering Error Rates
The same technology being used to track people across state lines can't even read license plates accurately.
The Numbers
A randomized control trial in Vallejo, California found [5]:
- 37% of fixed ALPR "hits" (cameras on street lights, etc.) were misreads
- 35% of mobile ALPR hits (police car-mounted cameras) were misreads
A separate study found 1 in 10 ALPR readings contains an error [6].
That's not a small glitch rate. That's a fundamental reliability problem. And it's getting people hurt.
Gunpoint Stops of Innocent People
Española, New Mexico: A 12-year-old was handcuffed after an ALPR camera misread the last digit of a license plate, "7" instead of "2." A month later, a 17-year-old honors student was held at gunpoint on his way home from school after officers mistook his vehicle for one tied to armed robberies [5].
Aurora, Colorado (2020): A mother and her family, including her 6-year-old daughter, were pulled over at gunpoint and forced to lie face down on hot pavement. Police thought their Colorado license plate matched a stolen motorcycle registered in Montana. The city settled the lawsuit for $1.9 million [5].
Atherton, California: Police ordered Jason Burkleo at gunpoint to lie on his stomach to be handcuffed, for allegedly driving a stolen vehicle. The ALPR had misread an 'H' for an 'M' [5].
Contra Costa County, California: Deputies detained Brian Hofer and his brother on Thanksgiving Day 2019 after an ALPR indicated his car was stolen. But the car had already been recovered, police just never updated the database. He received a $49,500 settlement [5].
San Francisco: Denise Green was seized at gunpoint due to an ALPR error. The city paid $495,000 [5].
The Pattern
These aren't edge cases. CBS News conducted a six-month investigation and verified over a dozen wrongful stops and several instances of ALPR abuse [7]. In every case, the technology was treated as infallible. It's not.
The 83,000-Camera Network
The Texas abortion case reveals the true scale of the surveillance infrastructure.
Flock Safety's Reach
Flock Safety maintains access to over 83,000 cameras across 6,809 networks [1]. A single search query can access nearly the entire country. That's not a local policing tool, that's a national surveillance dragnet.
Minimal Oversight
Until the Texas abortion case exposed the problem:
- No audit trail showed why searches were being conducted
- No filtering prevented accessing data from states with protective laws
- No automatic alerts flagged suspicious search patterns
- Officers could search for any reason, or no stated reason at all
The "Missing Person" Loophole
Flock and the Texas sheriff claimed the abortion search was actually a "missing person" case. But that excuse works for any tracking:
- Domestic violence victims fleeing abusers could be "missing persons"
- Teenagers seeking healthcare their parents oppose could be "missing"
- Anyone someone wants to find can be labeled "missing"
The category is whatever the searcher says it is.
Why State Laws Aren't Working
The Interstate Problem
Illinois passed a law. California passed laws (SB 34 and AB 1242). They explicitly prohibit sharing driver location data with out-of-state agencies investigating abortion or immigration [1].
But Flock Safety's network spans the entire country. When a Texas deputy searches 83,000 cameras, they're not asking Illinois for permission. They're searching a private company's database that Illinois police departments voluntarily joined.
The Enforcement Gap
State laws can punish their own agencies for sharing data improperly. But they can't control what out-of-state agencies do with data they've already accessed through a private network.
The Texas sheriff violated the spirit of Illinois law. But who has jurisdiction to enforce it? Texas doesn't care. Flock Safety is a private company. And Illinois can only remove agencies from the network after the fact.
What's Changed
After the scandal:
- 47 agencies lost Illinois data access
- New filtering prevents abortion/immigration searches on Illinois data
- 75 California departments stopped sharing with anti-abortion states
But this only happened because the EFF caught them. How many searches happened before anyone noticed?
The Backlash
Bipartisan Opposition
In December 2025, Flock Safety faces mounting opposition from federal lawmakers and local communities across the political spectrum [8]. Senators are calling for federal probes, citing negligent data security and "inevitable abuses" of mass surveillance.
Cities Opting Out
Communities are removing Flock cameras:
- Cambridge, Massachusetts terminated its Flock contract after cameras were installed without city knowledge
- An Oregon police chief criticized Flock for failing to deactivate cameras despite being asked
- Multiple cities are reconsidering contracts after the abortion tracking revelations
The ACLU Report
A December 2025 ACLU of Iowa report documented how ALPRs spread with minimal oversight [6]. The data is shared across national networks. Warrants aren't required to search. And the systems are demonstrably error-prone.
What You Can Do
Immediate Actions
• Assume your license plate is being tracked, it probably is
• If seeking reproductive care, consider alternatives to driving
• Check if your city uses Flock Safety or similar ALPR networks
• Attend city council meetings about ALPR contracts
Long-term Advocacy
• Support warrant requirements for ALPR database searches
• Demand your city exit interstate ALPR sharing networks
• Push for state laws that apply to private surveillance networks, not just government
• Support EFF, ACLU, and organizations fighting ALPR surveillance
The Bottom Line
Automated license plate readers can't reliably read license plates. They have error rates up to 37%. Innocent families get held at gunpoint because the technology misreads a single character.
And these same error-prone systems are now connected in a nationwide network of 83,000+ cameras that can be searched by a single officer to track someone across state lines for having an abortion.
Illinois passed a law to stop this. It didn't work. California passed laws. Departments violated them anyway. The only thing that worked was activists catching them and forcing change.
The technology is broken. The oversight is inadequate. And the abuse has already happened.
The question isn't whether this surveillance will be misused again. It's how many times it already has been, without anyone noticing.
References
- EFF - She Got an Abortion. So A Texas Cop Used 83,000 Cameras to Track Her Down (May 2025)
- The Daily Illini - Texas police illegally accessed Illinois license plate data (June 2025)
- ABC7 Chicago - Giannoulias on Texas police accessing Illinois data (2025)
- EFF - Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed Search Was for Missing Person. It Was an Abortion Investigation. (October 2025)
- EFF - The Human Toll of ALPR Errors (November 2024)
- ACLU of Iowa - ALPRs are tracking you with little oversight (December 2025)
- CBS News - When license plate readers get it wrong
- Ban The Cams - Flock Haters Cross Political Divides (November 2025)