An analysis by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) of search records from Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems found that U.S. police departments used absurd or offensive phrases when accessing sensitive data about vehicle movements. Examples included “LOL,” “LMAO,” “idk,” and “TBD,” as well as random strings of keyboard presses.
EFF says the problem is not limited to poor word choices in record fields, but reveals weak safeguards surrounding networks that collect drivers’ location data and allow multiple law enforcement agencies to search it. The foundation published its findings on September 14, 2026, based on data obtained through public records requests.
Extensive Data and Justifications That Do Not Withstand Scrutiny
In one case, an employee of the Goshen Police Department in Indiana searched 6,474 ALPR networks, representing data from 82,413 cameras, on May 7, 2025. The search-reason field contained “idk,” meaning “I don’t know.”
The records show other examples spread across several states. Employees of the Barberton Police Department in Ohio recorded searches using “LOL,” while employees of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department in Indiana used “LMAO.” Departments in Richmond and Riverside recorded the phrases “Hehe” and “Haha.” Agencies in Kankakee County, San Diego County, and Goshen also used “idk,” while more than 30 agencies recorded more than 6,300 searches using “TBD,” meaning “to be determined.” The Priceville Police Department alone conducted 1,954 searches with this description.
The records included phrases such as “Sexy,” “idiot,” and “WEIRD KID,” along with offensive descriptions whose letters were partially redacted in EFF’s material. The analysis also identified strings that appeared to result from randomly pressing keys, such as “asdfga” and “fghjkl,” as well as longer strings that appeared in the records of departments including Eatonton, Atlanta, Brown County, and Moore.
Not an Isolated Incident
EFF places these findings within a broader pattern of ALPR misuse. The foundation says previous records showed these systems being used to pursue current or former romantic partners, monitor protests, and attempt to track a woman who was seeking abortion services. The foundation also identified the use of terms targeting Roma people at more than 80 law enforcement agencies, as well as searches related to school residency checks, employment background checks, noise complaints, and monitoring a motorcyclist who was carrying a phone.
The importance of “network audit” records is that they document searches conducted through an agency’s system, including searches that may be carried out by thousands of outside agencies. But the existence of a record does not necessarily mean that the agency reviewed every search or verified that its stated reason matched its actual purpose.
Agency Responses and Changes to the System Interface
The police departments contacted by EFF provided different explanations. The Thornton Police Department said the system did not require a specific list during some of the searches, but later began doing so. It also said that searches associated with the phrase “driving around being weird” were conducted for public-safety purposes. The Richmond Police Department said the employees involved received guidance or were subject to internal accountability, while the Corona Police Department said that the employees who used “WEIRD KID” no longer worked for the city for reasons unrelated to that incident.
The Fishers Police Department said that “blah” was used when an investigator encountered problems with the technology’s speed while using it in a criminal case, and that the investigator was instructed to use “test” in the future. The Cobb County Police Department confirmed that “TBD” was no longer an acceptable reason and that a new policy now requires a crime, a reason, and a case number for every search in FLOCK. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said that searches using “idk” were connected to active investigations and that the reason field was optional at the software level at the time, even though California law has required documentation of the purpose for accessing ALPR data since 2015.
In late 2025, Flock Safety announced that it was replacing the free-text reason field with a list of general categories, such as “traffic violation” or “other.” EFF says this change may reduce the absurd phrases visible in the records, but it does not prove that the selected option matches the actual reason for the search, and it may make access to the data easier and less transparent.
Why Does This Matter?
The practical issue is the difference between recording a formal reason and having a justification that can be reviewed. ALPR systems do not merely display a photograph of a license plate; they enable searches through movement trails collected by a broad network of cameras. When this data can be accessed without a court order or independent verification of the purpose, a free-text reason field or preset list becomes a weak administrative barrier rather than a real safeguard.
This is EFF’s interpretation of the problem, not a comprehensive judicial ruling on every search listed in the records. Some departments said that particular searches were connected to legitimate investigations, and the presence of a term such as “TBD” alone does not prove the absence of a lawful purpose. But the facts presented by the foundation raise a clear question about agencies’ ability to police themselves, particularly when databases extend across many agencies.
EFF calls on courts and state legislatures in the United States to impose enforceable restrictions, including strict deadlines for deleting data and a requirement for a court order based on evidence and probable cause before tracking a person’s movements. According to the article, the change to the Flock Safety interface addresses the form of the record more than it demonstrates that the use itself has become controlled.