Demand Transparency and Oversight for Birmingham's Flock Camera Network

Birmingham must immediately disclose whether our surveillance data is accessible through Flock's National Lookup Tool and which federal agencies can access our residents' location information. The city has spent $9.7 million on a camera network that may violate our Fourth Amendment rights while operating in near-total secrecy. Federal courts have recognized the constitutional problem. In Norfolk's lawsuit over 176 Flock cameras, the judge found reasonable belief that privacy expectations are being violated. Birmingham's network is nine times larger. The Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. United States that tracking our movements over time requires a warrant. Yet Flock cameras record every vehicle continuously, creating the exact comprehensive records Justice Sotomayor warned against in United States v. Jones. The federal data sharing is particularly troubling. Flock admitted running pilot programs with Border Patrol and Homeland Security after months of denials. In San Francisco, out-of-state police ran 1.6 million illegal searches including ICE-related queries. In Colorado, Flock told police Border Patrol had no access, then admitted they had accounts all along. Birmingham residents deserve to know if ICE or CBP has already accessed our data. Alabama law requires Birmingham to publish an ALPR policy and undergo audits every three years. Where are these documents? The city must establish an independent civilian oversight board with authority to audit camera use, limit searches to serious crimes with probable cause, and provide complete cost accounting. We need answers now.