California court rules Flock camera use is not a Fourth Amendment search

The United States District Court for the Central District of California has ruled in United States v. Riley that the use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras does not constitute a Fourth Amendment search.

In the case, law enforcement used Flock cameras in two California cities to investigate kidnappings, obtaining four photographs of the defendant's vehicle in each location. The court determined that these searches were not extensive enough to violate privacy rights, distinguishing them from the “near perfect surveillance” seen in previous Supreme Court cases involving cell site location information (CSLI) or Google Location History.

The ruling noted that the ALPR data used could not create an “all-encompassing record” of the defendant's whereabouts or a “detailed log” of their movements, and therefore did not provide an “intimate window” into the individual's life.