Sen. Boren presents interim study on use of Flock cameras in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY –Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, asked the Public Safety Committee to examine the rapid expansion of Flock license plate reader cameras across Oklahoma. With billions of vehicle images stored in databases nationwide, the technology has intensified debate at the Capitol over the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement, and mass surveillance. The interim study brought this growing national dispute before members Wednesday.

“Before the study, I reviewed feedback from across the state and was impressed by Oklahomans’ understanding of their right to be free from unreasonable surveillance and warrantless searches. People should feel secured by their government, not stalked by it,” Boren said. 

The hearing addressed several issues, including Oklahoma law governing Flock camera use, relevant case law, Fourth Amendment protections, and public safety concerns.

Dr. Michael Wilds, an attorney and professor at Northeastern State University, testified that recent court decisions underscore that Oklahoma law permits automated license plate readers (ALPRs) only to identify uninsured motorists. He said that courts have ruled that law enforcement agencies exceed their legal authority and violate state law when they use the technology beyond determining insurance coverage to track travel patterns. Dr. Wilds also reviewed current case law interpreting the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as it relates to ALPR technology and its ability to collect and share data, well beyond the use of one photo and comparing it to a list of plates under investigation.

Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, who previously conducted two interim studies on Flock cameras, supported Professor Wilds’s interpretation. He noted that testimony from the District Attorneys Council during consideration of the bill authorizing ALPRs indicated that the technology was intended only for insurance verification, not to create a searchable database. 

“Government should enforce the insurance laws and investigate crime through methods that are authorized by law. If you take the face value of the statute, they are unlawful to be used in the way they are using,” Gann said, adding the use should be limited to what the law allows while avoiding persistent searchable records of everyone’s movement without a constitutionally adequate basis. “We need to make up our minds as a society and as a people if we are going to continue to tolerate this.”

Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel for privacy and technology at the American Civil Liberties Union, confirmed reports of mistakes in reading plates, and high error rates in some of the national databases of plates involved in active criminal investigations. He also discussed the risks ALPRs pose to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. Marlow said the technology can allow the government to infer intimate details about a person’s life, including religious beliefs, political activity, and personal relationships. Although safeguards could reduce some risks, he said they cannot make the technology safe because even strong protections contain easily identified loopholes. Marlow argued that bans offer the strongest protection against AI-enabled, ALPR-driven mass government surveillance. 

Boren thanked Public Safety Committee Chair Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, for agreeing to hear the study.

“We must balance Fourth Amendment privacy protections with legitimate law enforcement needs. Oklahoma deliberately limited ALPR use to insurance verification and plate-pay systems. Given those restrictions, can warrants authorize access to information collected and stored by this technology? Unless the law is clarified, defense counsel may identify a significant weakness in the use of that data. This discussion needs to continue so that we clarify the permitted use of ALPRs under Oklahoma law as well as constitutional law,” Boren said.

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For more information, contact: Sen. Mary Boren at 405-521-5553 or Mary.Boren@oksenate.gov