California Attorney General Sues El Cajon Over Illegal Flock Safety Data Sharing

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the City of El Cajon in October 2025, marking the first time the state has taken direct legal action against a municipality for misusing automated license plate reader data.

The lawsuit alleges El Cajon police shared data from its Flock Safety network with federal law enforcement agencies and departments outside California in direct violation of Senate Bill 34, the state's ALPR Privacy Act. The bill, signed into law in 2016, restricts how California agencies can share plate reader data and with whom.

"California has some of the strongest ALPR privacy protections in the nation, and we will enforce them," Bonta said at a press conference announcing the filing. "No city can use federal workarounds to undermine state law protections for California residents."

El Cajon, a city of approximately 100,000 in San Diego County, deployed Flock Safety cameras beginning in 2021. According to the complaint, audit logs showed thousands of unauthorized queries from agencies including federal immigration enforcement, Texas law enforcement, and agencies in states with no reciprocal data sharing agreements.

El Cajon officials stated they were reviewing the complaint and believed they had operated within legal guidelines, asserting that Flock Safety had assured them the sharing features were compliant with state law.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, civil penalties, and a court-ordered audit of all El Cajon ALPR data sharing over the past three years. Privacy advocates called the filing a landmark moment in the effort to hold both municipalities and their technology vendors accountable.