Improper collection or dissemination of personal data
Government agencies, or entities operating on the government's behalf, collecting individuals' personal data beyond lawful or legitimate need, or transferring that data to third parties -- including political operatives -- without proper authority or safeguards. It matters because unchecked data collection lets the state monitor people's private lives without the individualized suspicion the Fourth Amendment and similar protections require.
2026 Events (114)
DOJ opened investigation into Nevada Secretary of State Aguilar over refusal to share unredacted voter data
On September 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, in a letter from acting voting-section chief Eric Neff, told Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) that his office was under federal investigation for refusing to hand over the state's complete, unredacted voter registration list, and separately ordered Nevada to preserve all 2024 election records beyond the retention period federal law requires. The letter arrived about three weeks after a federal judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit seeking the same voter data, a ruling DOJ is appealing. Aguilar, whose office is in Carson City, called the letter "a pretty direct threat" meant to intimidate him into complying.
DOJ issued seven FBI subpoenas for Nevada voter data amid its separate court fight for the same records
On September 3, 2026, the Nevada Secretary of State's office confirmed it had received seven U.S. Department of Justice subpoenas, issued through the FBI, seeking voter-related information over the preceding three months. The disclosure came about three weeks after a federal judge dismissed a separate DOJ lawsuit that had sought Nevada's complete, unredacted voter registration list -- the department's 22nd consecutive district-court loss in a nationwide campaign for state voter rolls -- which DOJ has since appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Nevada's office did not disclose what specific information the subpoenas sought.
New Bedford, Mass. Sgt. James Marinelli used Flock cameras to track a woman he was dating, department finds
New Bedford, Massachusetts police announced on September 3, 2026 that an internal-affairs investigation, opened August 5, 2026, found Sgt. James Marinelli misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to track a woman he was dating and her ex-partner, entering pretextual justifications such as trespass, hit-and-run, disorderly conduct, and welfare-check codes to run the searches. Police Chief Jason Thody recommended Marinelli's termination; Marinelli invoked his Fifth Amendment right and declined to give a statement during the investigation. The finding was disclosed alongside a separate, unrelated internal-affairs finding against another New Bedford officer, Emily Pacheco, recorded as its own entry.
Revere, Mass. police officer misused Flock cameras and state database to track ex-girlfriend, suspended without pay
On September 2, 2026, Revere, Massachusetts police confirmed that Officer Michael Tiso had used the department's Flock license-plate-reader cameras and a state database on multiple occasions to track the location of his ex-girlfriend, Marissa Todisco, and her family, following a complaint the department received in December 2025. An internal affairs investigation substantiated the misuse, and Tiso served a three-day unpaid suspension from August 24 to August 26, 2026 before returning to duty; the findings were reported to the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission.
Georgia Department of Corrections special agent misused Flock license-plate cameras for non-law-enforcement purposes; arrested and charged
A Georgia Department of Corrections special agent in charge, Robert "Bobby" Michael Keim, 45, was arrested and charged September 1, 2026 with misuse of a license plate reader system after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found he had used the agency's Flock Safety license-plate-reader network for non-law-enforcement purposes. GDC had asked the GBI to investigate Keim's access to the system on August 18, 2026; investigators did not disclose what searches he allegedly ran. Keim, of Eatonton, was booked into the Putnam County Jail, and the case remains under investigation ahead of referral to the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office.
Colleton County, S.C. sheriff's lieutenant fired over 62 unauthorized Flock camera searches, including his spouse's vehicle
Colleton County Sheriff's Office Lt. Kevin Smalls was fired on August 31, 2026, after an internal audit found he conducted 62 unauthorized searches of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system over a six-month period, including searches of vehicles registered to his spouse and other acquaintances. Sheriff Guerry Hill Jr. requested a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into potential criminal conduct. Smalls is the second Colleton County lieutenant fired for Flock misuse in August 2026, after Lt. Ruben Carter's termination on August 20 over more than 2,700 unauthorized searches.
Richmond County, Ga. sheriff's deputy misused Flock database for personal reasons, fired, charged
On August 31, 2026, the Richmond County (Augusta, Georgia) Sheriff's Office arrested and fired Deputy Jose Ferrer after a criminal investigation found he had misused the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system to search plates for reasons unrelated to any official law-enforcement purpose. He was charged with misuse of license plate readers and violation of oath of office and booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center. The arrest is the sixth in an ongoing RCSO audit of Flock misuse since June 2026.
Richmond County, Ga. sheriff's investigator misused Flock database for personal reasons, fired, charged
On August 31, 2026, the Richmond County (Augusta, Georgia) Sheriff's Office arrested and fired Investigator Sean Morrow after a criminal investigation found he had misused the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system to search plates for reasons unrelated to any official law-enforcement purpose. He was charged with misuse of license plate readers and violation of oath of office and booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center. The arrest is the sixth in an ongoing RCSO audit of Flock misuse since June 2026.
Former Hahira, Ga. police officer arrested for misusing Flock license-plate database
Former Hahira, Georgia police officer Daniel Lindsay was arrested on August 31, 2026 and booked into the Lowndes County Jail on six counts of misuse of license plate data and six counts of violation of oath by a public officer, after a Hahira Police Department audit of its Flock Safety camera system identified non-work-related searches. He was released the same day; the department said the matter is being handled through investigative and legal processes and has not disclosed further detail about the specific searches.
Former Amarillo, Texas officer charged with 78 counts for using Flock database to track romantic rival
Former Amarillo, Texas police officer Christian Slade Eder, 29, was charged on August 31, 2026 with 78 counts of tampering with a government record after an audit found he searched a license-plate database 76 times and a law-enforcement records database twice to track a man who had previously dated a fellow officer Eder had expressed romantic interest in, entering false reasons for the searches each time. The Amarillo Police Department had fired Eder on July 17, 2026 following an internal investigation but did not publicly disclose the firing for 33 days. Eder turned himself in on September 1, was released on a $4,500 bond, and pleaded not guilty at arraignment the next day.
Jackson County, Ind. deputy misused Flock cameras to track girlfriend's location 2,055 times, charged with felony
On August 31, 2026, the Jackson County (Indiana) Prosecutor's Office charged former sheriff's deputy Skylar Thompson, 31, with official misconduct and fraud after a routine department audit found he had searched his then-girlfriend's license plate 2,055 times using the county's Flock camera system between December 31, 2025 and August 2, 2026, while employed as a deputy. Thompson falsely logged the searches as "city planning/traffic analysis," a duty he was never assigned, and resigned the day he was confronted before admitting the conduct to his then-girlfriend directly. A warrant was issued and he was taken into custody.
Athens-Clarke County police fired analyst for tracking ex-wife with Flock cameras
On August 29, 2026, Athens-Clarke County Police Department fired Criminal Intelligence Analyst Supervisor Nick Barker after an investigation found he improperly used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to search his ex-wife's license plate numerous times over several months in 2025. The complaint that triggered the investigation came from Barker's ex-wife, and ACCPD referred the matter to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an independent criminal investigation alongside its own internal review.
Former Covington, Ga. officer arrested for Flock camera misuse, oath-of-office violation
On August 27, 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested former Covington Police Department officer Michael Canty, 29, on charges of misuse of a license plate reader system and violation of oath of office. The Covington Police Department had asked the GBI on August 6, 2026 to investigate allegations that Canty misused his Flock Safety system access; the GBI said its preliminary investigation found Canty accessed the Flock system for non-law-enforcement purposes.
DHS requested a contractor to collect voter registration and history files from all 50 states annually for ICE fraud detection
On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a request for information — the first step in a federal contracting process — seeking a third-party contractor to collect voter registration files and, where available, public voter history files from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories on an annual basis. DHS said the data would support "fraud detection and data segmentation" operations run by Homeland Security Investigations, ICE's investigative arm, that the effort would start with a limited number of jurisdictions but could expand, and that no contract has yet been awarded. The RFI follows a July 2026 White House speech in which President Trump alleged foreign interference in state voter data and comes amid a broader administration campaign to compel and cross-reference state voter rolls.
Injustice Watch investigation found Illinois police and sheriffs circumvented TRUST Act to help ICE detain, deport immigrants
Injustice Watch, in partnership with The Intercept, reported on 2026-08-25 that despite Illinois' 2017 TRUST Act barring local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement, officials at more than 75 agencies across over a third of the state's counties collaborated with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service during Trump's first 15 months back in office. The investigation, drawing on body-worn camera footage, nearly 400 records requests, and court filings, found the collaboration -- direct data-sharing, jail-to-ICE handovers, and at least one FBI-coached arrest workaround -- helped flag, detain, or deport at least 150 people.
Injustice Watch/WIRED investigation found Illinois state's attorneys shared residents' personal data with ICE despite TRUST Act
An Injustice Watch investigation published August 25, 2026, in partnership with WIRED, found that state's attorneys' offices in roughly 1 in 6 Illinois counties shared residents' dates of birth, home addresses, court dates, and jail-release schedules with federal immigration agents despite the state's 2017 TRUST Act. In one documented case, a Marion County assistant state's attorney emailed a Homeland Security Investigations agent a defendant's birthdate, upcoming court date, and home address; federal agents arrested the man and detained his 17-year-old son outside their home three weeks later. State's attorneys disputed among themselves whether the TRUST Act binds their offices, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul declined to resolve the question.
Nevada Independent investigation revealed Clark County School District police tapped into Flock license-plate-reader network
A Nevada Independent investigation revealed on August 25, 2026 that the Clark County School District (CCSD) Police Department in Nevada has an agreement, confirmed on the record by the district, with license-plate-reader company Flock Safety granting access to "all shared cameras within Clark County and the Las Vegas area." A procedural memo restricting that access to CCSD's Investigations Bureau, requiring an assigned case number and bureau-commander authorization, took effect the same day the district received the outlet's public-records request; the underlying agreement's start date and duration are not established in public records, though CCSD had been negotiating with Flock since at least February 2025 and logged roughly 70 searches that year. No other Nevada school district has been reported to have a comparable arrangement.
Hall County, Georgia sheriff's investigators misused Flock license-plate cameras for personal searches; two fired after audit
The Hall County, Georgia Sheriff's Office confirmed on August 25, 2026 that it had fired two investigators, Justin Brown and Michael Atkins, after an internal audit of its Flock automated license-plate-reader system found both had used it for personal reasons unrelated to law enforcement. Termination records show Brown accessed the system approximately 250 times between January 2 and July 30, 2026 and was terminated August 19; Atkins was found to have accessed it on at least four occasions and was terminated August 24, with Brown's case referred to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for a criminal investigation.
Second Habersham County deputy misused Flock license-plate database for personal, non-law-enforcement searches; fired and arrested
Habersham County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jonathan Thomas was terminated and arrested on August 24, 2026, after an internal audit found he had accessed the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for a personal, non-law-enforcement purpose connected to a personal relationship. Thomas was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center on one felony count of violation of oath of office and two misdemeanor counts of misuse of license plate data, making him the second Habersham deputy in less than a month found to have misused the system after Deputy Christian Brewer's July 31 arrest. Sheriff Robin Krockum announced a strengthened two-person approval policy for Flock searches in response.
Highland Heights, Ohio police dispatcher misused Flock license-plate cameras in 20,292 unauthorized searches, resigned
A part-time Highland Heights, Ohio police dispatcher resigned on August 20, 2026, after Police Chief Dennis Matejcic found she had repeatedly misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for searches unconnected to any Highland Heights case. Records obtained by the public-records tracker HaveIBeenFlocked showed the dispatcher's account carried out 20,292 Flock searches between October 24, 2024 and November 22, 2025, including more than 5,000 searches on a single license plate, and the chief said she continued the unauthorized searches in the 30 days before he discovered them. Highland Heights had never audited its Flock system, in use since 2021, before this incident, and the department has since made monthly audits mandatory for every employee with Flock access.
Colleton County, S.C. lieutenant made 2,700+ unauthorized Flock license-plate searches on 14 people over a year, fired
Colleton County, South Carolina Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Ruben Carter was fired on August 20, 2026 after an internal audit found he had made more than 2,700 unauthorized searches of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system over roughly a year, targeting 14 people -- including himself, fellow deputies, friends, and former associates. Sheriff Guerry "Buddy" Hill Jr. asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate possible criminal conduct and overhauled the department's Flock access policy in response.
Lufkin, Texas officer misused Flock license-plate database to track 11 people over a year, indicted on 100 felony counts
Lufkin, Texas police officer Zachary Anthony Klein was arrested by Texas Rangers on August 20, 2026, following an internal audit and an outside investigation into his use of the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system. He was indicted the next day on 100 felony counts of misuse of official information, accused of tracking the vehicles of 11 people -- most connected to an ex-girlfriend -- for nongovernmental purposes between June 2024 and December 2025. The Lufkin Police Department suspended its use of Flock cameras department-wide as a result.
Cherokee County, Ga. Deputy Jerry Shellhouse fired, arrested on felony charge for misusing Flock database; fourth employee charged
On August 19, 2026, the Cherokee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office fired and arrested Deputy Jerry Shellhouse, 57, of Waleska, after an internal audit found he had used the agency's Automated License Plate Reader (Flock) system for non-law-enforcement purposes between October 2023 and December 2025. He was charged with one felony count of violation of oath of office and one misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining license-plate-reader data, and was held on a $3,812 bond. Shellhouse is the fourth Cherokee County Sheriff's Office employee arrested in 2026 in the same self-initiated audit, following Deputy Cynthia Jodesty, Lt. Chris Bryant, and Sgt. Mike Creeden.
Sarasota, Fla. officer misused Flock and DAVID databases 335 times to track ex-partner's vehicle; fired, arrested
On August 19, 2026, the Sarasota Police Department fired and arrested Officer Cory Waiters, 38, after an internal and criminal investigation found he had misused the department's Flock license-plate-reader network and Florida's DAVID driver database to repeatedly search his ex-partner's vehicle. A USA Today reporter's independent analysis of Flock audit logs first flagged the pattern -- 335 searches of the same plate over roughly two months, including 121 in a single day -- and the reporter's August 6 email to the department triggered the internal affairs and criminal investigations. Waiters was charged with felony offenses against computer users/systems, felony official misconduct, and misdemeanor violation of public records law.
Kenosha County deputy charged with felony misconduct for using Flock and Polaris databases to track a coworker
On August 19, 2026, the Kenosha County District Attorney's Office charged former Kenosha County Sheriff's Deputy Frank McGrath with two felony counts of misconduct in public office for using the FLOCK license-plate-reader network and the Polaris squad-tracking system to monitor a fellow deputy with whom he had a personal relationship. A county internal investigation had already substantiated the conduct, but McGrath was permitted to resign under a negotiated separation agreement in December 2025 without the matter being referred for criminal review; a prosecutor took it up only after Kenosha County Eye publisher Kevin Mathewson filed a John Doe petition in March 2026 asking a judge to compel the review.
Jefferson Parish, La. deputy fired after admitting 3,200+ unauthorized Flock searches on ex-fiancee
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy Nathan Rome was fired Aug. 18, 2026 after admitting, following a reporter inquiry and after waiving his rights to investigators, that he had used the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system to search his former fiancee's vehicle more than 3,200 times over several years for reasons unrelated to any official duty. Sheriff Joseph Lopinto confirmed the admission and the firing on the record.
WIRED FOIA disclosure reveals CBP employees misused law-enforcement databases to surveil exes, colleagues, and family members for over a decade
WIRED reported on August 13, 2026 that internal CBP and DHS Inspector General records, obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, document nearly 300 allegations of law-enforcement-database misuse by Customs and Border Protection employees between 2009 and 2022, including officers using government systems to track romantic interests, family members, and colleagues, and in some cases to feed information to suspected smugglers. Of those allegations, 138 were referred to CBP management and 78 were assigned to internal criminal investigators, but CBP withheld or left blank the outcome in most cases and would not disclose specific disciplinary results.
HSI infiltrated Minnesota unions and advocacy groups and subpoenaed financial records without judicial review during Operation Metro Surge
Court filings unsealed August 13, 2026 revealed that Homeland Security Investigations, coordinating with the Department of Justice, ran undercover surveillance operations codenamed "Operation Puppet Master" and "Operation Whipple Shield" during winter 2025-2026 as part of Operation Metro Surge, reaching far beyond the 15 activists eventually charged. Undercover agents infiltrated encrypted chats and organizing meetings, and HSI used administrative subpoenas to obtain years of financial records from labor unions and advocacy groups, none of which has been charged with a crime.
Indianapolis police officer misused automated license-plate readers for personal reasons, suspended with termination recommended
On August 13, 2026, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced that an officer, who has not been publicly identified, had been suspended with a recommendation for termination after using the department's automated license-plate-reader system for personal reasons. IMPD said it learned of the misuse on August 6, 2026, immediately placed the officer on administrative duty with no police powers, revoked the officer's access to the system, and collected the officer's department-issued equipment. Chief Tanya Terry recommended termination "based on facts gathered during the early stages of the administrative investigation," and both administrative and criminal investigations remain ongoing.
Chandler, Ariz. police officer misused Flock license-plate cameras to locate family member, resigned before investigation completed
A Chandler, Arizona police officer resigned on August 13, 2026, after admitting to department investigators that they used the city's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to locate an older family member with prior health concerns. Chandler Police said in a written statement that a routine scheduled audit flagged unusual account activity on August 6, the officer was questioned and admitted the misuse, was placed on administrative leave, and resigned before a formal investigation could be completed. The city had already announced on August 7 that it would end its use of all 40 Flock cameras following the internal investigation.
Former Dallas, Ga. 911 director charged with misusing Flock license-plate reader system
Former Dallas (Georgia) Police Department 911 director Heidi Taylor, 52, was arrested and charged with two misdemeanor counts of misusing a license plate reader system on August 12, 2026, and booked into the Paulding County Jail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, acting on the Dallas Police Department's July 7, 2026 request, found that Taylor had accessed the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system for reasons unrelated to law enforcement between 2024 and 2025 while serving as 911 director. What information she accessed was not disclosed.
Public records showed out-of-state agencies searched Twin Falls, Idaho Flock network 631 times for immigration enforcement, violating state law
Public records obtained by DeFlock Idaho and reported by the Idaho Capital Sun on August 11, 2026 show that Indiana State Police, Georgia's Lawrenceville Police Department, Florida's Bay County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission searched the Twin Falls, Idaho Police Department's Flock automated license-plate-reader network for immigration-enforcement purposes at least 631 times across March, May and June 2026. The searches, made through Flock's national network-sharing system, evaded Idaho Code 49-1432's restriction of ALPR use to specific crime categories and Twin Falls PD's own policy barring immigration-related queries. Twin Falls PD said the searches produced no data pulls and ended its participation in the national lookup system in late July 2026.
Haines City, Fla. officer arrested after 717 Flock camera searches of estranged wife's car
On August 11, 2026, Haines City, Florida police officer Christopher Goodson, 31, was arrested on one count of offenses against computer users and one count of official misconduct, both third-degree felonies. An arrest affidavit found Goodson entered his estranged wife's license plate into the department's Flock Safety camera database 717 times between September 1, 2024 and June 30, 2026, often logging false law-enforcement justifications for the searches. Goodson disclosed the searches to a supervisor only after learning a reporter had contacted his estranged wife about the pattern, and has indicated he intends to resign.
New Bedford, Mass. officer Emily Pacheco accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-girlfriend; judge found her a credible threat
New Bedford, Massachusetts police officer Emily Pacheco was served an abuse-prevention order on August 10, 2026, after her ex-girlfriend's sworn affidavit alleged Pacheco used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to track her, called her repeatedly from disguised numbers, and showed up unannounced at her home. Department data show Pacheco's Flock searches jumped from 18 in April, when the relationship ended, to 259 in May and 220 in June, and a judge found Pacheco poses a credible threat to the ex-girlfriend's physical safety, ordering her to surrender all firearms and suspending her license to carry -- an order extended for six months on August 13 after Pacheco testified the searches were part of a legitimate drug investigation. New Bedford police opened an internal-affairs investigation and Chief Jason Thody temporarily suspended the department's use of Flock pending a review of all past use, after The New Bedford Light asked the department about the allegations.
Three Bibb County, Ga. sheriff's deputies arrested for misusing Flock cameras to track romantic partners
Bibb County, Georgia Sheriff David Davis announced the arrest of three sheriff's deputies on August 10, 2026, after an internal audit found they had used the department's Flock license-plate-reader network to track people with whom they had personal relationships rather than for legitimate law-enforcement purposes. All three deputies were charged with violation of oath of office, stalking, and misuse of license-plate data, and have resigned.
Mauldin, S.C. officer fired for using Flock cameras 166 times to track ex-partner, falsified search logs
Separation papers Mauldin, South Carolina police officials filed with the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy — first publicly reported August 10, 2026 after records requests, since neither Hammond nor the department disclosed it voluntarily — showed that Mauldin Police Department officer Ellie Hammond was terminated August 3, 2026 after using the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system 166 times between March and July 2026 to track a former significant other's vehicle. Hammond disguised the searches by logging them as warrant checks, traffic infractions, and welfare checks rather than their real purpose.
Six Savannah Police Department employees misused Flock license-plate camera system for personal searches; all fired
The Savannah Police Department terminated four sworn officers and two civilian employees on or about August 7, 2026, after an internal investigation found they used the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system to run searches on personal acquaintances and family members unrelated to law enforcement purposes. One of the six also gave an outside law-enforcement agency unauthorized access to the system. SPD opened the investigation July 27, 2026, and referred all six cases to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for an ongoing independent criminal review; the employees' names have not been released pending that investigation and an appeals process.
Former Polk County, Georgia officer arrested for misusing Cedartown PD's Flock license-plate system via task-force access
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested former Polk County Police Department Officer Tracey Royston, 51, of Cedartown, Georgia, on August 7, 2026, on four misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system. Royston, while detached to the GBI-managed Northwest Georgia Drug Task Force, used the access that assignment gave her to the Cedartown Police Department's Flock Safety system to search it multiple times between 2024 and 2025 for non-law-enforcement purposes, after Cedartown police asked the GBI to investigate on July 31, 2026.
Mooresville, NC officer misused Flock license-plate cameras 31 times to track boyfriend's ex-wife
Mooresville, North Carolina police officer Elizabeth Snowman was arrested and charged on August 5, 2026, after Police Chief Ron Campurciani said she accessed the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system 31 times -- including twice while off duty -- to track her boyfriend's ex-wife. Snowman logged most of the searches as motor vehicle infractions and was released on a $5,000 bond; the department is reviewing roughly 10 additional cases of potential Flock misuse, three of which the chief said already look problematic. The arrest came a week after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was placed on unpaid leave over similar Flock-system misuse allegations.
CBP sought private contractors to track down and photograph deported people's homes abroad to collect fines
On August 4, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a solicitation seeking private contractors to locate and photograph the homes of people it has deported to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, so the government can pursue unpaid failure-to-depart fines that can reach $998 a day and up to $1.8 million per person. The program, capped at $9 million over two years, would have the government own all data investigators gather with unlimited reuse rights, and comes after CBP's three existing debt collectors reported finding no one located outside the U.S. as of July 2026. Sens. Dick Durbin and Alex Padilla have called the underlying fines "arbitrary and potentially unlawful" and say DHS did not respond to their July inquiry about the program.
Wall Street Journal investigation reveals ICE's internal-affairs office ran surveillance operation to unmask hundreds of online critics
A Wall Street Journal investigation published August 3, 2026 found that ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, traditionally the agency's internal- affairs unit, has issued hundreds of administrative and grand jury subpoenas to social media companies to identify anonymous users critical of the agency, monitoring nearly 20 platforms and cross-referencing DMV records and police reports to map critics' identities and relationships. The investigation documented at least 131 doxxing or threat cases opened between January 2025 and March 2026, and found ICE spending on surveillance technology and contractors rose 57 percent year over year to $258 million; no charges have been filed in most of the identified cases.
Audit found Elk Grove PD shared license-plate data with 3,600+ outside agencies in 8.3 million searches
A public-records audit released August 3, 2026 by the privacy advocacy group DeFlock Elk Grove found that between 2021 and March 2026, the Elk Grove Police Department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader network was searched roughly 8.3 million times by more than 3,600 outside organizations -- 97% of all searches on the system, versus about 3% by Elk Grove PD itself. More than 1.3 million of those searches came from over 3,200 federal and out-of-state organizations, and about 4.3 million came from 290 California agencies with no data-sharing agreement on file, both categories California law generally restricts from receiving the data.
Axios investigation reveals FBI obtained South Carolina voter's IP address in probe tied to Trump's unsubstantiated fraud claims
On July 31, 2026, Axios reported that the FBI had requested and obtained the IP address associated with a South Carolina resident's online voter registration, part of the Trump administration's investigation into unsubstantiated 2020 election-fraud claims. The FBI made the request in March 2026 and received the data in June 2026 through York County, South Carolina election officials; a York County official with roughly 20 years' tenure called it his first such interaction with law enforcement, and a former senior Justice Department official described the request as an inappropriate "fishing expedition" into private voter data. The tactic surfaced alongside a separate Justice Department lawsuit campaign seeking voter-roll access from roughly 30 states and Washington, D.C., and could extend to any of the 43 states plus D.C. that allow online voter registration.
Habersham County deputy misused Flock license-plate database for personal, non-law-enforcement searches; fired and arrested
A Habersham County Sheriff's Office deputy, Christian Brewer, was fired and arrested on July 31, 2026, after a random internal audit found he had used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes, running searches connected to an individual he had a personal relationship with. Brewer was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center on one felony count of violation of oath of office and two misdemeanor counts of misuse of license plate data, with the case referred to the district attorney's office for prosecution. The arrest brought Georgia's documented total to at least 20 people arrested or charged for similar Flock/ALPR misuse across at least ten law-enforcement agencies statewide.
Richland County, S.C. deputy Russell Kenton II fired, arrested for misusing Flock camera system
Richland County Sheriff's Department deputy Russell Kenton II, 35, was fired and arrested for misconduct in office on July 29, 2026, after a July 24 audit by the department's Professional Standards Division found he had used his access to the Flock license-plate-reader system to research information unrelated to law enforcement purposes. Sheriff Leon Lott announced the termination and arrest; RCSD's public statements did not specify what information Kenton searched or why. Kenton was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and released on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
Ogeechee Circuit DA investigator Andrae Wright used retained Flock, TLO database access to stalk his wife, arrested
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Andrae Wright, 44, on July 27, 2026 in Statesboro, Georgia, and charged him with misuse of a license plate reader system, stalking, computer invasion of privacy, and violation of oath of office. At the time of the offense, Wright was chief investigator for the Ogeechee Circuit District Attorney's Office; he had retained access to the Effingham County Sheriff's Office's Flock Safety system from a prior job there and used it, along with the TLO law-enforcement records database, more than 180 times between June 15 and July 5, 2026 to locate his wife. He was booked into the Bulloch County Jail, having left the DA's office on July 9, 2026, the day the investigation began.
Chico, California police department shared license-plate data with ICE and Border Patrol for two years in violation of state law
ChicoSol News reported on July 25, 2026 that the Chico, California Police Department had been sharing automated license-plate-reader data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and more than 80 out-of-state law enforcement agencies since February 28, 2024, in violation of California's SB 34 and SB 54 data-sharing restrictions. The department halted the sharing in early July 2026 after a public-records request exposed it and said the arrangement was an oversight.
FMCSA demanded Social Security numbers and other private data on 17 million commercial drivers from state-run database
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration demanded on July 23, 2026 that the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators turn over the entire Commercial Driver's License Information System — names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers for roughly 17 million commercial drivers — threatening to cut federal funding for the state-owned database if AAMVA refused. The Department of Homeland Security issued its own subpoena for the same records on August 11, and on August 13 a coalition of states sued in the Eastern District of Virginia, arguing the demands violate federal privacy law and that FMCSA's stated licensing rationale masks an intent to share the data with DHS for immigration enforcement.
Sumter County, Florida detective misused police databases and Flock cameras to track husband's ex-wife, was fired and arrested
Sumter County, Florida Sheriff's Office Detective Brandy Almany was arrested and fired on July 23, 2026, after an internal audit found she had used restricted law-enforcement databases -- including the Flock license-plate-reader network, Florida's DAVID driver database, and the Comprehensive Case Information System -- to track her husband's ex-wife for personal reasons. Investigators said Almany created fake electronic records citing unrelated case numbers to make the searches appear to be legitimate investigations, and she was charged with official misconduct and multiple counts of offenses against computer users. Sheriff Patrick Breeden suspended all Flock camera use departmentwide and ordered a full audit of database access following the arrest.
Emptywheel investigation reveals DHS used customs-summons power to obtain journalists', unions', and non-profits' records without judicial oversight
Reporting first published July 22, 2026 by independent journalist Marcy Wheeler, and substantially expanded by The Guardian on August 29, 2026, revealed the Department of Homeland Security has been using an administrative summons authority meant for customs enforcement (19 U.S.C. Sec. 1509) to obtain private records without a judge's approval. After a federal magistrate twice rejected warrant requests for Minneapolis journalist Georgia Fort's phone and YouTube data, DHS used a 1509 summons to obtain six months of her phone records from T-Mobile and sought her YouTube account information from Google, along with that of Don Lemon, Democracy Now, Megyn Kelly, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and independent journalist Brendan Gutenschwager. In a separate case, DHS used the same authority to obtain financial records from the Sunrise Movement, the Service Employees International Union, the Communications Workers of America, and the non-profit Voices for Racial Justice, none of which faced any charges.
Conyers, Ga. crime-center supervisor misused Flock cameras to track domestic partner; arrested and charged
On July 22, 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested and charged Paige Forte, a supervisor in the Conyers Police Department's Real-Time Crime Center, with misuse of a license-plate-reader system after an internal department audit found she had accessed the Flock Safety database more than 30 times between April and July 2026 to track her domestic partner's vehicle. Conyers police requested the GBI investigation after the audit flagged her search activity; she was booked into the Rockdale County Jail and placed on administrative leave.
CPSC demanded identifiable ER records from 100+ hospitals through contractor Konza Health without required public notice
On July 21, 2026, the Consumer Product Safety Commission publicly announced a program requiring at least 100 hospitals — including Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic — to turn over identifiable emergency-room records to Konza Health, a Kansas-based data firm holding a $15.9 million, five-year CPSC contract. A July 27 KFF Health News investigation revealed CPSC had been pressuring hospitals since earlier in the year and had not provided the public notice and comment period federal law requires before requesting data from ten or more entities; CPSC and Konza officials described participation as "mandatory," and Konza said it would hold identifiable data for at least 30 days before filtering it.
Richmond County sheriff's lieutenant, investigator, and deputy misused Flock database for 100+ personal searches; fired, charged
On July 20, 2026, the Richmond County (Augusta, Georgia) Sheriff's Office fired and arrested Lt. John McKenzie, Investigator Curtis Hoskins, and Deputy Joshua Johnson after a criminal investigation found each had made more than 100 unauthorized personal-purpose searches of the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system. All three turned themselves in at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center the same morning and were charged with misuse of license plate readers and violation of oath of office. The arrests stemmed from the same Flock audit that led to former Deputy Jaquarius Yarbrough's firing on June 25, 2026.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission used law enforcement database to secretly surveil at least 16 environmental advocates and critics
Beginning no later than 2023 and continuing through 2025, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers repeatedly accessed the state's Driver and Vehicle Information Database under false "criminal investigation" pretexts to pull the private records of environmental advocates who had publicly opposed the agency. At least 16 critics had their records accessed. FWC chair Rodney Barreto admitted the practice while framing it as a security measure, but some of the surveilled individuals had never attended an FWC meeting. The agency spokesperson later acknowledged no criminal investigations of the targets existed.
Midland County Judge Terry Johnson posted critic's Social Security number on Facebook in apparent retaliation
On July 18, 2026, Midland County Judge Terry Johnson used his official access to a restricted criminal-justice-information system to obtain an old, unredacted 2015 arrest-warrant record for Christino Rodriquez — a local citizen journalist who publishes government-accountability content as "Nino America" — and posted it to Facebook with Rodriquez's Social Security number, date of birth, and driver's license number visible, captioned "Convicted felon trying to be a player," even though the underlying charges had been dismissed. The post came less than 24 hours after Rodriquez published court records critical of Midland County government, including one lawsuit that resulted in a $150,000 county settlement.
DeKalb County sergeant misused Flock license-plate system for unauthorized, non-job-related purpose; fired and arrested
The DeKalb County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office fired and arrested Sgt. Kabiru Salawu on July 17, 2026, after an internal investigation found he had made unauthorized, non-job-related use of the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system. Salawu, who had worked for the agency since August 24, 2009, was booked into the DeKalb County Jail without bond on a felony count of violation of oath of office and a misdemeanor count of misuse of license plate data.
Documents show Fort Bend County sheriff's lieutenant misused Flock cameras 189 times, suspended two days
ABC13 reported on July 17, 2026, that documents it obtained show a Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office lieutenant used the department's Flock license-plate-reader network to search one license plate 41 times and another 148 times from January 2022 through December 2025, admitting the searches were unrelated to official law-enforcement work. An internal affairs investigation, opened after a resident accused the lieutenant of "stalking" them, found the lieutenant violated the department's general orders and imposed a two-day suspension; ABC13 is not naming the lieutenant because no criminal charges have been filed.
Stow, Mass. officer used Flock cameras and state databases to track ex-partner who fled abusive relationship
On July 17, 2026, the Stow Police Department filed a criminal complaint against Officer Jason Rogers after a four-week internal-affairs investigation found he used the Flock camera system and the state's CJIS and CORI databases multiple times in 2024 and 2025 to locate a woman who had ended their relationship years earlier. The woman said the relationship had been abusive and that she had changed her identity, phone number, and social-media habits after leaving; she has since obtained a restraining order against Rogers that she said will remain in place for at least a year. Rogers was placed on paid administrative leave and then, on July 31, 2026, unpaid leave pending a Select Board hearing on his employment status.
CBP forensic phone searches of Palestinian-American activist violated Fourth Amendment, federal judge ruled, based on unverified congressional letter
On July 16, 2026, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection violated the Fourth Amendment when officers conducted two forensic searches of the cell phones of Osama Abu Irshaid, a U.S. citizen and executive director of American Muslims for Palestine, at a U.S. international airport in 2024. The court found the "reasonable suspicion" CBP cited -- including an unverified May 2024 letter from Rep. James Comer alleging the organization's financial ties to Hamas -- did not justify the nonroutine device searches. The court ruled for the government on a separate First Amendment retaliation claim, finding no evidence of retaliatory animus, and ordered both parties to brief remedies within 21 days.
Reynoldsburg, Ohio officer searched same plate 53 times without case numbers, resigned before misconduct interview
On July 16, 2026, Reynoldsburg, Ohio police officer Alissa Birkhimer resigned one day before she was scheduled to be interviewed by Internal Affairs investigators about her use of the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system. A department audit found she had searched the same Ohio license plate 53 times between January and June 2026, mostly without the case number her searches were supposed to be tied to, and that a case number she eventually cited in June belonged to an unrelated missing-person investigation with no established connection to the plate. Unlike a fellow officer caught in a parallel audit, Reynoldsburg police released no internal-affairs finding on whether Birkhimer's searches violated policy before she left.
ICE moved to renew $25M-a-year Thomson Reuters data-broker contract to identify unaccompanied minors and flag alleged fraud
On July 14, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement published a federal contract-register document disclosing plans to renew its data-broker agreement with Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) at up to $25 million per year for five years, more than five times the value of the prior contract. The filing states the data -- drawn from TRSS's Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR), Continuous Alerting Batch Solution (CABS), and Westlaw databases, which include license-plate-reader and court records -- would be used to identify "unaccompanied minors" and flag "voters fraud" and immigration fraud, tasks ICE has not previously performed for the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Thomson Reuters said the work supports vetting sponsors of migrant children, but immigration attorneys said DHS's expanding role has already narrowed the pool of eligible sponsors and prolonged children's time in custody.
Greer, S.C. police corporal repeatedly searched Flock cameras to track a fellow officer, falsified justifications
Greer, South Carolina Police Department Corporal Kareem Lynch repeatedly used the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system to search for the license plate of a fellow officer with whom he had a prior relationship, between December 2025 and January 2026, logging the queries under false justifications such as "welfare checks" or "city planning." The city of Greer disclosed on July 14, 2026 that Lynch had been terminated on June 26, 2026 after a Flock AI audit corroborated the allegations.
Greer, S.C. police officer searched Flock cameras to track his ex-girlfriend and other citizens, falsified justifications
Greer, South Carolina Police Department Officer Sebastian Echeverry used the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system to search the plates of several citizens, including his ex-girlfriend, between December 13, 2025 and May 25, 2026, entering "Alcohol Offense Non-DUI" as his justification even though that was not the true reason for the searches. The city of Greer disclosed on July 14, 2026 that Echeverry had been terminated on June 29, 2026 after a Flock AI audit corroborated the allegations.
Reynoldsburg, Ohio officer Mark Nichols made 46 unauthorized Flock searches on ex-partner's plate, resigned before IA interview
Reynoldsburg, Ohio police officer Mark Nichols resigned on July 13, 2026, the day before he was scheduled to be interviewed in an internal-affairs investigation that found he made 47 unauthorized searches of the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system between September 2025 and June 2026. Investigators determined 46 of those searches targeted a vehicle belonging to his former domestic partner, with Nichols logging the reason as "23," the department's code for an errand, rather than a case number; Deputy Chief Mike Binder sustained the finding that Nichols had violated department policy. Because Nichols resigned before his interview he faced no discipline, and the department held off referring the case for criminal prosecution because of a medical diagnosis, though officials said that could change if his health improved.
LAPD inspector general audit found officers wrongly stopped 161 innocent people flagged by faulty license-plate-reader hot list
A Los Angeles Police Department Office of the Inspector General audit, released July 11, 2026, found that during a two-month review period officers acknowledged 161 automated license-plate-reader "hot list" alerts as accurate stolen-vehicle matches that were in fact wrong, generally because outdated data was never cleared after a vehicle was recovered. Although LAPD policy requires officers to verify an alert's accuracy before stopping a vehicle, the audit found this frequently did not happen, and the false hits routinely triggered "high-risk" stops against people who had done nothing wrong. The findings led LAPD to let its data-sharing contract with Flock Safety expire.
New Mexico probation officers referred probationers to ICE in violation of state privacy law, ethics commission alleged
On July 10, 2026, the New Mexico State Ethics Commission sued the state Corrections Department and its secretary, Alisha Tafoya Lucero, alleging that probation officers shared probationers' immigration status and personal information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in violation of the 2025 Nondisclosure of Sensitive Personal Information Act. The Commission said newly unearthed emails showed the coordination was widespread and continued after the privacy law took effect, and that officers lured at least three New Mexico residents to probation offices in Santa Fe and elsewhere where ICE agents arrested them.
Milwaukee detective assigned to investigate Flock camera misuse misused the same system to track two people, prosecutors alleged
Milwaukee Police Department Internal Affairs Detective Tehrangi Chapman, who had been assigned to investigate officer Josue Ayala for misusing the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system, was himself charged on July 9, 2026, with felony misconduct in public office and misdemeanor misuse of a GPS device. Prosecutors allege Chapman ran unauthorized Flock searches on two individuals roughly 17 to 20 times between January 2024 and January 2025, logging the searches as "training" or "test," and secretly installed a physical GPS tracker on one victim's car without a warrant or consent. Chapman, a 22-year MPD veteran who was suspended with pay in March 2026, admitted in charging documents to using the database and tracker for personal reasons.
Court filings revealed ICE and the State Department shared Iranian detainees' asylum records with Iran's government
On July 7, 2026, the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund sued the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and ICE in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging that since March 2025 the agencies had shared confidential asylum-application and immigration files of Iranian asylum seekers with Iran's government while working to deport them. The Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations.
Greene County, Ga. deputy misused Flock database to track a license plate for three months, fired and charged
On July 7, 2026, the Greene County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office arrested and fired Deputy Quin'sha Goss after an internal audit found she had used the agency's Flock automated-license-plate-reader system to track at least one license plate for approximately three months for reasons unrelated to any official law-enforcement purpose. Goss was charged with violation of oath of office and prohibited retention of automated-license-plate-reader data. The Sheriff's Office said the investigation remained active.
New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed SB 430 compelling school staff to disclose students' gender identity to parents on request
On July 7, 2026, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed Senate Bill 430, requiring all school employees to answer parents' or guardians' written requests about their children "completely and honestly" — including a child's gender identity — generally within 10 business days. The law legislatively overrides the New Hampshire Supreme Court's 2024 "Jane Doe" decision, which held that parents have no fundamental right to dictate how schools handle such information, and effectively compels the disclosure of transgender and gender-nonconforming students to their parents. It provides narrow exceptions where disclosure is barred by other law or where a staff member makes a good-faith determination that it would place the student at imminent risk of abuse or neglect.
Palm Beach Post investigation reveals Boynton Beach police sergeant misused restricted database to collect women's personal data
A Palm Beach Post investigation published July 6, 2026, found that Boynton Beach Police Sergeant Fabrice Jeanniton had repeatedly used the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's restricted driver database to look up the names, addresses, birth dates, and driver-license photos of women outside any legitimate investigation. Jeanniton had been reprimanded for the same conduct on a different restricted database in 2013, and resigned in lieu of termination in November 2025.
GBI: Internal audit found five Albany, Georgia officers misused Flock license-plate data
On July 6, 2026, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of five former Albany, Georgia police officers — Tytianna Davis, Jade Jackson, Nicholas Richardson, Brittney Smith, and Issac Whitus — on charges of misuse of license plate data and violation of oath of office. An Albany Police Department internal audit of its Flock automated license-plate-reader system, which prompted the department's June 25, 2026 request for a GBI investigation, found the officers had repeatedly accessed the system and used retained plate data for non-law-enforcement purposes; all five were terminated and booked into the Dougherty County Jail.
Executive Office of the President awarded a no-bid contract to Parscale's Campaign Nucleus for Freedom 250 sites that collected visitors' data
The Freedom 250 websites — including the government-redirect domain 250.gov and the event-registration platform events.freedom250.org — were built and operated by the Executive Office of the President's National Design Studio and by Campaign Nucleus, a firm founded by former Trump campaign digital director Brad Parscale. The sites tracked visitors' precise geolocation and logged form-entered personal information through an analytics script that was quietly removed in mid-June 2026 after The Guardian sought comment, while Campaign Nucleus separately collected registrants' names, ZIP codes, and mobile numbers and scores individuals for voter-targeting purposes. On July 1, 2026, the Executive Office of the President awarded Campaign Nucleus a non-competitive $66,000 blanket purchase agreement, running through 2031 and described only as "EVENT PLANNING."
Richmond County, Ga. deputy searched ex-affair partner's plate via Flock 1,639 times, fired
Richmond County, Georgia Sheriff's Office Deputy Jaquarius Yarbrough was arrested and fired on or about June 25, 2026, after a criminal investigation found he had improperly accessed the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track a woman with whom he was having an affair. Investigators said Yarbrough searched the woman's license plate 1,639 times over several months and that he admitted continuing to monitor her movements after the relationship ended; he was charged with unlawful retention or use of license-plate-reader data and violation of oath of office.
HHS created new pathway to share TANF recipients' Social Security numbers and immigration status with DHS
On June 23, 2026, HHS's Office of Family Assistance published a Federal Register notice modifying the TANF Data system of records to add a new routine use authorizing disclosure of recipients' Social Security numbers and immigration/citizenship status to DHS and other agencies, effective July 23, 2026. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia sued in federal court in Washington, D.C. on August 3, 2026, seeking to block the rule before states begin releasing data on August 11, 2026.
OPM moved to collect health insurance claims data on 8 million federal workers and retirees, retaining the right to re-identify pseudonymized records
On June 23, 2026, the Office of Personnel Management published a Federal Register notice establishing a modified system of records that authorizes the agency to collect health insurance claims data—including diagnoses, prescriptions, and payment details—from 65 insurance carriers covering over 8 million federal workers, retirees, and their family members enrolled in FEHB and PSHB programs. The notice added pseudonymization provisions in response to earlier criticism—removing names, Social Security numbers, and addresses before analyst review—but expressly reserved OPM's right to re-identify records and set an effective date of July 23, 2026 for new data-sharing provisions. Health privacy lawyers warned that pseudonymization was insufficient given that medical conditions alone can identify individuals, and Senate Democrats called on OPM to work with Congress before implementation.
Cherokee County, Ga. Sgt. Mike Creeden arrested on felony charge for misusing sheriff's office license-plate reader database
Cherokee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office Sergeant Mike Creeden, 35, of Cartersville, was arrested and fired on June 22, 2026, after an internal audit found he had used the agency's Automated License Plate Reader system for non-law-enforcement purposes. He was charged with a felony count of violation of oath of office and a misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining license-plate-reader data; the sheriff's office has not disclosed whose plates he searched or why.
Cherokee County, Ga. Lt. Chris Bryant arrested on felony charge for misusing sheriff's office license-plate reader database
On June 22, 2026, Cherokee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Chris Bryant, 45, of Acworth, was arrested, booked, and fired after an internal audit found he had used the agency's Automated License Plate Reader (Flock) database for non-law-enforcement purposes. He was charged with one felony count of violation of oath of office and one misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining license plate reader data, both under Georgia law. The arrest followed a self-initiated audit by the sheriff's Real-Time Intelligence Division that separately implicated two other deputies for misusing the same system.
Milledgeville, Ga. police major misused Flock license-plate cameras for personal purposes; fired and charged
Milledgeville, Georgia Police Department Major Brandon Sellers misused his access to the department's Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system for non-work-related purposes on June 20, 2026, according to the arrest and booking record. The misuse surfaced after Chief Dray Swicord ordered an internal inquiry on August 10, 2026; Sellers was terminated, turned himself in on felony violation-of-oath and misdemeanor license-plate-data-misuse charges on August 11, and was released on a $10,000 cash bond, with the case referred for prosecution.
Holiday Hills, Illinois police chief charged with felony misconduct for using Flock, LEADS data to track six people he knew
On June 18, 2026, McHenry County, Illinois prosecutors charged William C. Copp, 54, chief of the Holiday Hills Police Department and a part-time Prairie Grove police officer, with two counts of official misconduct after an investigation found he misused Prairie Grove's Flock license-plate-reader system and the Illinois LEADS database to track six people he was personally connected to. Copp resigned as Holiday Hills chief the day of his arrest; a McHenry County judge had denied an emergency stalking no-contact order against him in February 2026, months before the charges were filed.
ProPublica investigation reveals State Department conditioned African health aid on data-system access
A ProPublica investigation published June 17, 2026 revealed that the State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "America First Global Health Strategy," has conditioned billions of dollars in humanitarian health aid to African nations on direct access to those nations' health-data systems. Uganda agreed in December 2025 to give the U.S. real-time access to nine national health-data systems for seven years in exchange for aid; Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ghana rejected initial versions of similar deals. Data-privacy and global-health experts said the agreements are unusually broad and lack standard safeguards, raising re-identification risks for people with HIV and tuberculosis.
Cherokee County, Ga. deputy arrested, fired for entering coworker's plate into Flock database
On June 12, 2026, the Cherokee County, Georgia Sheriff's Office arrested and fired Deputy Cynthia Jodesty after an internal audit of its Flock automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) database found she had entered a fellow sheriff's office employee's license plate into the system while performing no legitimate law-enforcement function. Jodesty, 30, was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on a felony count of violation of oath of office and a misdemeanor count of unlawfully retaining ALPR data, and released on a $3,812 bond. Her arrest was the first in an expanding Cherokee County Sheriff's Office audit that went on to catch three more deputies for similar Flock misuse over the following two months.
Canyon County, Idaho probation office compiled 82-name foreign-born list, disclosed it to ICE for enforcement targeting
On June 5, 2026, Jeff Breach, director of Canyon County, Idaho's Misdemeanor Probation Department, directed staff to review their caseloads and compile a list of probationers born outside the United States for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Boise field office. Over 140 emails obtained by InvestigateWest show the resulting 82-name list swept in people with no evidence of immigration violations -- more than half on probation for DUI and only seven with an existing ICE hold -- while officers separately coordinated ICE arrests staged at probationers' scheduled appointments.
KFF Health News reporting revealed HHS under Kennedy sought federal access to most Americans' identifiable medical records
Reporting published June 4, 2026 by KFF Health News revealed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is seeking federal government access to the identifiable medical records of most Americans to research a rejected link between vaccines and autism. HHS officials met repeatedly with state health-information-exchange leaders about obtaining detailed patient records, backing a proposal for the department to receive data covering 90% of the population by 2028. An HHS spokesperson declined to say how many states are participating, what data is collected, or how patient privacy would be protected.
Tennessee Health Dept. threatened to report disabled immigrant children to state immigration-enforcement division
The Tennessee Department of Health, under Interim Commissioner John Dunn, sent letters dated June 1, 2026, to roughly 400 families enrolled in the Children's Special Services program — which covers children with disabilities and chronic or critical illnesses, including some on ventilators, feeding tubes, or chemotherapy — warning that continued enrollment after June 30, 2026, would result in the department reporting each child's immigration status to the state's Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division. The department cited a new Tennessee law requiring reporting of immigrants without legal status who receive public benefits, though the law's text limits that requirement to applicants 18 or older. Legal advocates and pediatricians warned the directive could force families to forgo life-sustaining care to avoid being reported.
Bloomberg investigation revealed DOJ subpoenaed X for an anonymous ICE critic's identity, address, and banking data
On May 28, 2026, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Department of Justice, under U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, had issued a federal grand jury subpoena to X seeking the name, address, and banking information of an anonymous user, represented by attorney Joshua Koltun, over a sarcastic post referencing the ICE officer who shot Minneapolis protester Renee Good. The subpoena followed DOJ's withdrawal of an earlier administrative summons for the same information after Koltun challenged it, and neither DOJ nor the user have been told what crime is under investigation. The user has moved to quash the subpoena in federal court, in a case pending before Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
White House launched "Aliens.gov" ICE portal urging public to report "suspicious aliens"
On May 28, 2026, the White House launched Aliens.gov, a UFO-themed immigration enforcement website pairing a searchable ICE arrest database with a tip line urging visitors to report "suspicious aliens." The site displays arrest locations, detainees' countries of origin, alleged criminal charges and gang affiliations, alongside a running "encounters" counter exceeding 3.1 million.
Former Coffee County, Ga. deputy Chris Ashley Rozar indicted on 8 counts for Flock, GCIC database misuse and stalking
On May 5, 2026, a Coffee County, Georgia grand jury indicted former sheriff's deputy Chris Ashley Rozar, 49, on eight counts -- four counts of violation of oath by a public officer, two of computer invasion of privacy, one of prohibited use of captured license-plate data, and one of stalking -- after a two-year GBI investigation found he misused the sheriff's office's Flock camera and tag-reader system and the state GCIC database for personal reasons, including to track a woman, between April 10 and May 1, 2024. Rozar was booked and released on bond the same day; he had been terminated from the sheriff's office when the investigation began.
Shively, Ky. police officer misused Flock camera network over 2,000 times to track ex-girlfriend's vehicles; charged with official misconduct
Shively (Kentucky) Police Officer Asad Zahir ran more than 2,048 searches on the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader network between January 1 and May 2, 2026, tracking two vehicles registered to the mother of his child across Kentucky and Indiana. During that period Zahir also harassed the woman and made threatening comments, prompting her to obtain a protective order against him in Indiana; investigators found 241 of the searches occurred while that order was in effect. A Flock Safety AI-powered audit tool flagged the pattern in August 2026, leading to Zahir's arrest and criminal charges.
Court filing revealed DOJ officials sought Illinois voter data to purge noncitizens; emails showed staff directed to conceal purpose
On April 30, 2026, attorneys for the Illinois AFL-CIO and other intervening parties filed court documents in the federal NVRA lawsuit in Springfield, Illinois, including internal DOJ emails obtained through a public records lawsuit, showing that the Justice Department's demand for unredacted state voter rolls was aimed at identifying and purging suspected noncitizens. A June 2025 email from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Gates explicitly described cross-referencing state voter rolls against the DHS SAVE immigration database for that purpose, while a November 2025 email from Acting Voting Section Chief Eric Neff directed staff to respond to states' questions about data use only with "We will use the data in a manner consistent with Federal law" and say nothing more. DOJ has filed similar NVRA suits in approximately 30 states and Washington, D.C.; six have already been dismissed.
DOJ concealed from courts and states its plan to vet voter rolls against DHS citizenship data, internal emails revealed
On April 21, 2026, a coalition of voting-rights groups led by Common Cause sued the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; the filing, alongside roughly 1,200 pages of internal DOJ communications obtained through FOIA litigation, revealed the department had spent nearly a year collecting states' unredacted voter rolls to cross-check against the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE citizenship system while withholding that intent from courts and Democratic election officials. In a November 2025 email, DOJ Voting Section leader Eric Neff advised telling states only that the department would "use the data in a manner consistent with Federal law" and to "say nothing more," asserting that "no judge will have authority to limit us beyond a promise of Federal law compliance." The department had also sued 31 election chiefs to compel production of unredacted voter registration data.
Apache Junction, Ariz. officer misused Flock license-plate cameras to track his wife, resigned before termination
Apache Junction, Arizona police officer Joshua McDaniel misused the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system on April 19, 2026, to try to locate his wife, Police Chief Michael Pooley said. McDaniel asked Apache Junction dispatchers to run his wife's plate and separately used the ALPR network to track her car to Casa Grande, a misuse he disclosed to Casa Grande police during an unrelated welfare-check call, prompting Casa Grande to alert Apache Junction. McDaniel resigned shortly after Apache Junction's internal investigation concluded in late July 2026; Pooley said he would have been fired had he not resigned.
Costa Mesa, Calif. officer Robert Josett pleaded guilty to misusing police databases to track mistress, wife, and rivals
On April 14, 2026, former Costa Mesa, California police officer Robert Jay Josett, 35, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unauthorized computer access and fraud, annoying and repeated phone calls, and contempt of court, after using the state CLETS database and the Costa Mesa Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system between June 2023 and June 2024 to track his mistress, her romantic partners, and his own wife. He was sentenced to three years informal probation and a 52-week domestic-violence program, wore a court-ordered GPS monitor for nine months, and his POST certification review remains pending.
Katy, Texas police officer Sergio Rodriguez indicted, fired for using Flock cameras to stalk ex-wife 2,386 times
Katy Police Department officer Sergio Rodriguez was indicted April 6, 2026, in Fort Bend County on felony charges of stalking and misuse of official information, and fired from the department April 20 after an internal-affairs investigation found he used the Flock automated license-plate-reader system 2,386 times over roughly 11 months to track his ex-wife, Kayland Johnson, and placed a GPS tracking device on her vehicle. Court records show the indicted conduct occurred between November 2024 and April 2025; Johnson reported the tracking to Katy police in October 2025, and Rodriguez admitted during the department's investigation that it was a "dumb decision" with "no excuse." Fort Bend County prosecutors said it was the first case their office has charged for Flock misuse.
DOJ sued Idaho to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On April 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, asking a federal court to order him to produce the state's complete, unredacted voter registration list, including partial Social Security and driver's-license numbers for Idaho's roughly 1 million registered voters. The suit followed McGrane's refusal of DOJ's September 2025 demand and a December 2025 threat of litigation, and was the department's 30th such suit against a state for declining to hand over its full voter file.
ICE acting director confirmed to Congress the agency uses Paragon's Graphite spyware without disclosing permitted domestic targets or legal basis
In a letter dated April 1, 2026, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons informed three House Oversight Committee members that Homeland Security Investigations is using Graphite, a zero-click spyware made by Israeli company Paragon Solutions capable of accessing encrypted messages without user interaction. The letter, a belated response to an October 2025 inquiry, did not specify who could be targeted domestically or the legal basis for the tool's use inside the United States. Civil-liberties groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and EPIC warned the tool could be deployed against protesters and journalists, not only the fentanyl traffickers cited as the primary justification.
U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed Reddit via secret D.C. grand jury to unmask anti-ICE critic
On March 31, 2026, the Department of Justice ordered Reddit to appear before a secret federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., by April 14 and hand over the name, address, phone number, IP address, and other identifying data of an anonymous user who had criticized ICE in posts. The subpoena came four days after DOJ withdrew a separate administrative summons seeking the same information, which the user's attorneys had moved to quash in federal court in California.
TSA shared passenger screening data with ICE to target and detain asylum-seeking mother at San Francisco airport
On March 23, 2026, Transportation Security Administration agents at San Francisco International Airport shared passenger screening data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alerting ICE that Guatemalan mother Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her young daughter would be boarding a flight, resulting in Lopez-Jimenez's public detention in Terminal 3 as bystanders recorded the arrest. TSA had been sharing passenger information with immigration officials for roughly a year under a program flagging individuals subject to deportation orders, first reported by the New York Times in December 2025 but largely unnoticed until the SFO incident.
FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that FBI buys Americans' location data from brokers without a warrant
On March 18, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel testified under oath at a Senate Intelligence Committee worldwide threats hearing in Washington, D.C. that the FBI purchases Americans' location data from commercial data brokers rather than obtaining a warrant, in response to questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Patel said the practice is "consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act," directly reversing predecessor Christopher Wray's 2023 sworn testimony that the bureau had stopped the practice. Wyden called the warrantless purchase "an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment."
NPR investigation revealed ICE collected DNA samples from protesters arrested at immigration enforcement operations without related charges
An NPR investigation published March 18, 2026 documented six people arrested by federal immigration officers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Oregon while observing or protesting ICE operations who were then subjected to DNA cheek swabs despite facing no charges tied to their protest conduct. In the lead case, ICE officers tackled and detained a Minneapolis protest observer, identified only as Ben, for roughly three hours in late January 2026 before swabbing him, leaving him with three broken ribs. DHS told NPR federal law requires DNA collection from those arrested or facing charges, but legal scholars said applying that authority to civil-immigration protest arrests is constitutionally doubtful.
Former Bonner Springs, Kansas detective Kyle Rector charged with using Flock cameras, police databases to stalk estranged wife
On March 18, 2026, Wyandotte County, Kansas prosecutors filed 18 criminal charges against former Bonner Springs Police Department detective Kyle Rector, 39, after a Kansas Bureau of Investigation inquiry found he used Flock Safety license-plate readers, a department crime- center database, and his patrol vehicle to track his estranged wife and two men she was allegedly involved with. The surveillance began after the couple separated in November 2025 and continued after Rector's wife obtained a protection order in January 2026, which investigators say he violated with additional database searches; Bonner Springs police had already fired him on Jan. 26, 2026.
CNN, ProPublica reported DHS sought access to restricted HHS child-support, employment database
CNN and ProPublica reported, independently and citing current and former federal officials, that the Department of Homeland Security requested access to HHS's restricted Federal Parent Locator Service, which holds child-support and employment data on millions of Americans, reportedly for immigration enforcement purposes. DHS and HHS both denied the request on the record when asked by CNN.
Whistleblower alleged ex-DOGE employee retained Social Security data on personal device, claimed remote-alter access
On March 10, 2026, The Washington Post reported a whistleblower's allegation that a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee at the Social Security Administration had retained copies of tightly restricted SSA databases covering nearly every living American -- including one on a personal thumb drive -- and claimed continued "God-level" access letting him remotely alter SSA records, with plans to share the data with a private-sector employer. SSA's inspector general confirmed to congressional committees it had opened an investigation into the anonymous complaint, and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia demanded briefings from SSA and the OIG and requested transcribed interviews with former DOGE employees by March 23, 2026. SSA, the former employee, and the company he allegedly went to work for all disputed the allegations.
Monroe County, Florida sheriff's deputy misused police databases and license-plate cameras to track and pull over woman he met on TV set
On February 19, 2026, Monroe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Lamar Eliseo Roman pulled over a woman on U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys using a license-plate-reader hotlist alert, the culmination of two weeks in which he repeatedly searched sheriff's-office and state databases for her personal information. Roman had met the woman on February 3, 2026 while working security on the set of Apple TV+'s "Bad Monkey," and investigators say his in-car camera showed him driving into oncoming traffic during the pursuit that preceded the stop. He was fired and arrested on a felony database-misuse charge on March 10, 2026.
Nebraska handed the Justice Department its full voter file, including partial Social Security numbers, while an appeal was still pending
On February 12, 2026, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen transmitted the state's entire voter registration database to the U.S. Department of Justice, including every registered voter's full name, home address, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security, driver's license or state ID number. The transfer came one day after the Nebraska Supreme Court declined to enjoin it while an appeal by Common Cause Nebraska proceeded, and it formed part of a DOJ campaign that had by then sought voter files from 44 states and sued more than 20 of them.
Montana Free Press revealed Secretary of State Jacobsen told DOJ her office had satisfied its demand for the state's voter file
On February 4, 2026, Montana Free Press reported that emails obtained through a public-records request showed Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen's office had told the U.S. Department of Justice on December 2, 2025 that Montana had "fully satisfied" DOJ's August 14, 2025 demand for the state's complete voter registration list, which sought voters' full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver's license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The reporting did not establish the precise date the underlying file was transmitted or confirm which of the requested sensitive fields it contained; Jacobsen's office subsequently denied providing "confidential" or "unredacted" voter data without explaining the discrepancy with its own written confirmation to DOJ.
Washington Post investigation revealed DHS subpoenaed Google to unmask a critic hours after his email to a DHS official
A Washington Post investigation published February 3, 2026, revealed that the Department of Homeland Security has used administrative subpoenas -- issued without a judge's or grand jury's order -- to identify private citizens who criticize the agency, centering on a Philadelphia-area retiree who emailed a DHS attorney urging leniency for an Afghan asylum seeker. Four hours after the email, DHS subpoenaed Google for the man's account information, and DHS agents later visited his home to question him about it. The ACLU moved to quash the subpoena, and DHS withdrew it in early February 2026.
AG Bondi demanded Minnesota turn over voter rolls, Medicaid/SNAP data, end sanctuary policies amid deadly ICE crackdown
On January 24, 2026, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz a letter demanding the state hand over its voter rolls, Medicaid and SNAP recipient data, and repeal its "sanctuary" policies, framing compliance as a path to end the federal immigration surge in the Twin Cities. The letter came hours after Border Patrol agents fatally shot U.S. citizen Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon rejected the demand as "an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota," and Gov. Walz called the voter-roll request unrelated to any legitimate concern.
TSA Acting Administrator McNeill falsely told Congress TSA does not send passenger data to ICE; FOIA-obtained agreement showed it does
On January 21, 2026, Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security that TSA does not send passenger data to ICE, saying the agency only "helps ICE check against information." A Memorandum of Agreement between TSA and ICE, signed in May 2025 and disclosed by American Oversight through a FOIA lawsuit on July 28, 2026, states that TSA "intends to share specified data elements with ICE" and sets procedures for ICE to retain that information.
DOJ court filing revealed DOGE shared Social Security data of 300 million Americans via an unapproved server
A Justice Department court filing dated January 16, 2026 disclosed that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team members at the Social Security Administration had copied and shared a database of more than 300 million Americans' personal records through Cloudflare, a third-party server not approved to store SSA data and outside the agency's security protocols; SSA said it still cannot determine what was shared or whether it remains on the server. The same filing disclosed that SSA referred two DOGE employees to the Office of Special Counsel for potential Hatch Act violations after a political advocacy group contacted them seeking Social Security data to match against state voter rolls as part of an effort to overturn election results in certain states.
FBI searched Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's Alexandria, Virginia home, seized her devices in Pentagon leak probe
On January 14, 2026, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Alexandria, Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin watch, as part of a Pentagon-referred Justice Department leak investigation into a government contractor accused of taking home classified reports. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search was conducted at the Defense Department's request; Natanson and the Post were not targets of the underlying probe, but the seizure cut off her access to more than 1,000 confidential sources and her ongoing reporting on the administration's downsizing of the federal workforce.
DOJ sued Arizona and Connecticut to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On January 6, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Arizona and Connecticut in federal court, seeking to compel both states to produce their complete, unredacted voter registration lists, including voters' full birthdates and full or partial Social Security and driver's-license numbers. The suits brought DOJ's nationwide campaign to 23 states and the District of Columbia; Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had already rejected three DOJ requests for the data and told a department attorney to "pound sand." Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the lawsuits were needed to enforce federal election-integrity law.
Echols County, Georgia sheriff's office secretary arrested, charged with stalking after misusing Flock database to track two people she knew
Anna Altobello, 33, a secretary at the Echols County, Georgia Sheriff's Office, was arrested Monday, January 5, 2026 and booked into the Lowndes County Jail after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found she had repeatedly searched the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader system for two people she knew personally, outside any law-enforcement purpose. Sheriff Randy Courson had requested the GBI investigation on December 18, 2025, after receiving information about the misuse. Altobello was charged with eight counts of misuse of license plate data, stalking, stalking-family violence, and violation of oath of office, with additional charges expected as the investigation continues.
DOJ demanded Minnesota's same-day voter registration and 'vouching' records over HAVA compliance concerns
On January 2, 2026, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon a letter demanding records on the state's same-day voter registration and "vouching" system, in which a registered voter can attest to a new voter's residency, citing the 1960 Civil Rights Act and claiming the practice "seems facially inconsistent" with the Help America Vote Act. Minnesota's Office of the Secretary of State refused the demand on January 16, 2026, saying DOJ had identified no legal basis for the request and no evidence the state's practices violate federal law, and offered training materials on the process instead.
2025 Events (23)
ICE awarded GEO Group and 12 other firms up to $1.2 billion to locate immigrants, supplying contractors 50,000 names a month
On December 16, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded indefinite-delivery "skip tracing" contracts worth up to $1.2 billion over two years to 13 private companies, among them B.I. Incorporated, the wholly owned subsidiary of private-prison operator GEO Group, whose award is valued at up to $121 million. Under the contracts ICE furnishes each contractor with roughly 50,000 people's last known addresses and identifying information every month, and the contractors mine commercial databases and physically observe those people, returning time-stamped photographs of homes and workplaces. Reporting by The Intercept, Source Material and Bloomberg News established that the program reaches people on ICE's non-detained docket nationwide and that the agency told contractors a report may be followed by "an enforcement action."
DOJ sued Colorado to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On December 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, seeking to compel production of the state's complete, unredacted voter registration database, including voters' full names, dates of birth, and driver's-license or Social Security number fragments. The suit, filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, followed Griswold's May and December 2025 refusals to share the unredacted data and a November 2025 letter, which she led with nine other secretaries of state, asking DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security to clarify how the collected data would be used and shared.
Former Florissant, Missouri police officer pleaded guilty to illegally searching women's phones, photographing nude images during traffic stops
Former Florissant, Missouri police officer Julian Alcala pleaded guilty on December 2, 2025, to 20 federal counts of deprivation of rights under color of law for using traffic stops between February and May 2024 to search women's phones without cause and photograph nude images he found, victimizing at least 20 women. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison in March 2026, and the city of Florissant agreed in July 2026 to settle a related civil suit brought by 24 plaintiffs for $4 million while denying liability.
Braselton, Ga. police chief misused Flock camera network roughly 600 times to stalk ex-girlfriend; charged with stalking
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged then-Braselton Police Chief Michael Steffman on November 19, 2025, with stalking, harassing communications, violation of oath of office, and multiple counts of misusing automated license-plate-reader data, hours after he announced his resignation. The GBI found Steffman had used the Flock camera network to run roughly 600 unauthorized searches on his ex-girlfriend's and her daughter's license plates between July 2024 and August 2025, tracking her movements and texting her about them. Steffman was found dead at his home in April 2026, before the case reached trial.
Niceville, Florida officer used Flock camera network to stalk fellow officer, harass spouse
On October 10, 2025, the Niceville Police Department in Florida arrested Officer Coty Wayne Hall after an internal audit covering January through October 2025 found he had made nearly 200 unauthorized searches of the department's Flock Safety license-plate-reader network and other restricted law-enforcement databases, using the results to track and harass a fellow officer and that officer's spouse. Hall was charged with violating Florida Statute 815.06(2)(a), covering unauthorized computer access, and the City of Niceville fired him after the allegations became public.
Menasha, Wisconsin officer Cristian Morales used department's Flock system to track ex-girlfriend's car
On October 9, 2025, Menasha, Wisconsin police officer Cristian Morales, 31, ran five Flock Safety license-plate-reader searches for his ex-girlfriend's vehicles while off duty and using his personal phone, logging the reason as a "welfare" check with no case number attached, after the two had broken up the previous month. Morales was arrested and charged with felony misconduct in office on January 7, 2026, after his ex-girlfriend reported her suspicions to Appleton police; he was placed on administrative leave, resigned from the department later that month, and was ultimately convicted and sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation.
DOJ sued Oregon to compel release of unredacted, sensitive voter roll data
On September 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sued Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read, seeking to compel disclosure of the state's complete unredacted voter registration list, including birth dates, driver's-license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers, and alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The suit was part of a broader DOJ campaign that went on to demand voter data from dozens of states. A federal judge dismissed the Oregon suit on January 26, 2026, after Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Minnesota's governor a letter suggesting the data would be used to advance the administration's immigration-enforcement agenda.
Wyoming became the first state to hand the Justice Department its voters' driver's license and partial Social Security numbers
On August 28, 2025, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray transmitted the state's complete voter registration list, including driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers, to the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a June 2025 DOJ request, making Wyoming the first state to fully comply with the department's nationwide voter-roll collection campaign. The transfer drew little public attention until Wyoming Democrats and the League of Women Voters of Wyoming criticized it after DOJ's broader voter-data campaign drew national scrutiny.
Sandy Springs, Ga. reserve sergeant terminated for misusing Flock cameras to benefit private company
Sandy Springs, Georgia terminated reserve Sgt. Francis Esposito, effective August 20, 2025, after an internal affairs investigation found he used his department Flock Safety license-plate-reader login to run searches connected to Signal 8, a startup he separately worked for, and failed to cooperate with investigators. The department's termination letter cited abuse of position and authority; Signal 8 denies receiving any Flock data from Esposito, and the case has been referred to Georgia's Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
Trump ordered NCES to collect race-disaggregated admissions data from colleges, bypassing required APA notice-and-comment
On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics to collect race- and sex-disaggregated admissions data from colleges nationwide, requiring institutions to report seven years of applicant, admissions, and enrollment records to verify they were not using race as a factor in decisions. The directive imposed a presidentially mandated 120-day deadline that caused NCES to skip the Administrative Procedure Act's required notice-and-comment rulemaking process. A coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general subsequently challenged the mandate, and a federal judge later found the rollout "rushed and chaotic."
IRS disclosed 47,000 taxpayers' addresses to ICE under an April 2025 data-sharing deal, later found unlawful in 42,695 cases
On August 7, 2025, the IRS disclosed the last-known addresses of approximately 47,000 taxpayers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responding to a June 27, 2025 ICE request for 1.28 million records under an April 2025 data-sharing agreement signed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Of the addresses disclosed, 90.3% were matched and released through an automated process that never independently verified the addresses ICE had supplied, as Section 6103 requires. A federal judge later found the IRS had violated the statute approximately 42,695 times.
Kansas City transit authority signed secret contract authorizing facial-recognition profiling of bus riders
On July 24, 2025, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) signed a three-year, auto-renewing contract with SafeSpace Global, a penny-stock company carrying a $23.7 million accumulated deficit and a going-concern warning, authorizing AI cameras that would generate facial-recognition profiles of bus riders, capture their video and audio, and use the resulting data to train the company's algorithms. The contract barred both parties from public disclosure and KCATA had no policy governing the biometric data; the signed agreement remained outside the public record for a year, until The Kansas City Defender obtained it through a records request.
Fargo police arrested Tennessee grandmother Angela Lipps based on unverified Clearview AI facial-recognition match; she was jailed five months
On July 14, 2025, Fargo, North Dakota police obtained a nationwide-extradition warrant for Angela Lipps, 50, based substantially on a Clearview AI facial-recognition match supplied by neighboring West Fargo police — a tool Fargo's own chief later said the department would not have used had he known about it. Lipps, a Tennessee grandmother who says she had never been to North Dakota, was arrested and held for approximately five months before bank records proved she was in Tennessee during the crimes. Fargo's interim police chief subsequently acknowledged errors and barred further use of the tool.
ATF analyst used Richmond police license-plate-reader access for immigration enforcement, violating department policy
On July 8, 2025, the Richmond Police Department announced it had terminated an ATF analyst's access to its license-plate-reader system after discovering the analyst had used it for immigration enforcement, in violation of RPD's operational standards. The analyst, granted access in February 2025 to assist ATF firearms and violent-crime investigations, queried 49 license plates -- including in a March 2025 effort to help recapture four detainees who had escaped an ICE detention facility in Farmville, Virginia -- with RPD's own review finding 14 of those queries tied to immigration-enforcement matters. RPD Chief Rick Edwards barred all federal agencies from the department's license-plate-reader program going forward, saying he would have denied a formal request for immigration-enforcement access.
ICE task force officers logged Spokane protesters' license plates and personal data into an evidence database
During anti-ICE protests at ICE's Spokane, Washington field office in May and June 2025, Homeland Security Investigations task force officer Stacey Carr and HSI analyst Ryan Lid photographed protesters' and bystanders' license plates and looked up their identities, then uploaded the data — including names, addresses, and vehicle information — to Axon's Evidence.com digital evidence platform, according to Carr's own July 2025 police report obtained by Mother Jones. None of the surveilled individuals, who included a tour-bus photographer and a driver in a public parking lot, were stated to be under investigation for any wrongdoing.
Milwaukee police officer misused Flock license-plate database to track ex-partner and new partner about 179 times
Milwaukee Police Officer Josue Ayala used the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system to track the locations of an ex-partner and that ex-partner's new partner roughly 179 times between March 26 and May 26, 2025, logging each search under a false "investigation" justification. The misuse surfaced after one victim searched her own plate on haveibeenflocked.com; a department audit and a criminal complaint filed February 24, 2026 confirmed the unauthorized searches and Ayala was charged with misdemeanor attempted misconduct in public office. Ayala resigned from MPD in March 2026 and pleaded guilty in June 2026.
Alabama Gov. Ivey signed SB101, raising minors' medical consent age to 16 and requiring parental access to health records
On May 21, 2025, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 101 (Act 2025-455), raising the age at which minors can independently consent to medical, dental, and mental-health treatment from 14 to 16, effective October 1, 2025. The law requires health care providers to grant parents access to a minor's medical records except by court order or when a parent is under criminal investigation involving the child, and requires written parental permission for minors under 16 to participate in school counseling. Adolescent-health advocates warned the change strips confidentiality that had let vulnerable minors, including LGBTQ+ youth, seek sensitive care without risking involuntary disclosure to parents.
Trump administration pressured Secret Service to warrantlessly surveil Comey after 'seashells' post
On the night of May 15, 2025, President Trump and administration officials pressured U.S. Secret Service agents to warrantlessly access former FBI Director James Comey's phone location data after Comey posted an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to spell "86 47." Secret Service personnel warned internally that they lacked a warrant or a reasonable basis to believe Comey posed an imminent threat, but the agency issued an emergency request to Verizon and tracked Comey's phone as he drove from North Carolina toward Virginia. The pressure and warrantless tracking were disclosed in July 2026 through internal Secret Service records filed in Comey's separate federal criminal case.
North Dakota Gov. Armstrong signed HB1144 restricting transgender students' bathroom access and requiring schools to out them to parents
On May 1, 2025, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed House Bill 1144, barring K-12 public schools from maintaining all-gender multi-stall restrooms or shower rooms and requiring such facilities be designated for one sex only. The law also requires school staff to notify a student's parents if they learn the student is transgender, with violations enforceable by the state Attorney General through fines up to $2,500.
Indiana Gov. Braun signed SB143, barring schools from withholding student information from parents and enabling forced outing of LGBTQ students
On April 24, 2025, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed Senate Bill 143, the "Parental rights" law, taking effect July 1, 2025. The law bars government entities — including public schools and the Department of Child Services — from advising, directing, or coercing a child to withhold information from a parent, or from denying a parent access to information about their child, absent a compelling interest. The ACLU of Indiana warned the measure can compel the forced outing of transgender and gender-nonconforming students to their parents.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. police officer misused Flock cameras and law enforcement databases for personal use, fired
Oak Ridge, Tennessee Police Department officer Zachary Gauthier was fired on April 24, 2025, after an internal investigation found he had used his mobile data terminal and the department's Accurint, State Link System, and Flock Safety license-plate-reader access for personal, non-law-enforcement purposes in March and early April 2025. An Anderson County grand jury later indicted Gauthier on 23 counts of official misconduct, and he pleaded guilty to all 23 counts and was sentenced to a term including 48 hours of incarceration and supervised probation.
Trump signed EO 14248 requiring documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form
On March 25, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14248, directing the Election Assistance Commission to add documentary proof of U.S. citizenship — including a passport or REAL ID — as a mandatory requirement on the national mail voter registration form. The order also directed DOGE and the Department of Homeland Security to cross-check all state voter rolls against federal immigration databases and instructed the Attorney General to enforce post-Election Day ballot prohibitions. Federal courts subsequently permanently enjoined the citizenship-proof mandate, finding that Trump lacked statutory authority to unilaterally alter the EAC's congressionally established voter registration form.
DEA agent used Illinois detective's Flock login for 24 unauthorized immigration searches
On January 27-28, 2025, a Drug Enforcement Administration Group 22 task force agent identified only by the initials "B.K." used Palos Heights, Illinois police detective Todd Hutchinson's Flock automated license-plate- reader login to run 24 searches logged as "immigration violation" investigations. Illinois law bars using the state's license-plate-reader network for immigration enforcement.
2024 Events (1)
Shelby County, Tenn. deputy misused plate-tracking database to track ex-wife 100+ times; charged with stalking, harassment
On August 8, 2024, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office relieved deputy Thadius Gordon, 38, of duty with pay and he was charged with stalking and harassment after an audit found his ex-wife's license plate had been searched roughly 20 times over a four-day span and more than 100 times in total through a law-enforcement plate-tracking database. Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner confirmed the database access and said the office was reviewing its policies; Gordon's attorney disputed the stalking characterization, saying Gordon's contact concerned her safety rather than surveillance.
2023 Events (2)
North Carolina overrode Cooper's veto to enact S49, restricting K-4 gender-identity instruction and mandating parental notice of pronoun changes
On August 16, 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly voted along party lines to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of Senate Bill 49, the "Parents' Bill of Rights," enacting it as Session Law 2023-106. The law bars instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality in kindergarten-through-fourth-grade classrooms and requires school personnel to notify a parent before any change in the name or pronoun used for a student.
North Dakota enacted HB 1522 restricting transgender students' restroom use and barring schools from concealing their status from parents
On May 8, 2023, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1522, which requires public school boards to prohibit students from using restrooms that do not coincide with their "biological sex," allowing separate accommodations only with parental approval. The law also bars schools and teachers from adopting policy on a student's transgender status or withholding that status from the student's parents, and prohibits government entities from requiring or forbidding employees' use of colleagues' preferred pronouns. The measure passed the Legislative Assembly with an emergency clause and took effect immediately.
2022 Events (1)
Former Kechi, Kan. police Lt. Victor Heiar arrested for using Flock cameras to stalk estranged wife
On October 26, 2022, Wichita police arrested then-Kechi, Kansas Police Department Lieutenant Victor Heiar, 32, after discovering he had used his access to the Wichita Police Department's Flock license-plate reader system to track his estranged wife's location without any law-enforcement purpose. Heiar pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking, both misdemeanors, and was sentenced in April 2023 to a 24-month term probated to 18 months.
2021 Events (1)
Former Frazer Township, Pa. officer Michael McSherry pleaded guilty to stalking estranged wife he tracked with department's license-plate reader
Former Frazer Township, Pennsylvania police officer Michael McSherry was arrested September 28, 2021 and later pleaded guilty to stalking and official oppression for a months-long campaign against his estranged wife, Alexandria Griffith, that included logging into his department's license-plate-reader system at least 85 times between August 28 and September 15, 2021 to track her vehicle and her mother's, a hidden GPS tracker discovered under her car, a nanny camera, and repeated threats. On September 10, 2021, responding officers found McSherry holding a loaded handgun during a domestic incident in which he had thrown the couple's four-year-old son to the ground and threatened self-harm before a brief standoff ended in his arrest; a second arrest on September 28, after search warrants turned up additional phones and tracking devices, brought the stalking and computer-misuse charges. A Westmoreland County judge sentenced McSherry to 11.5 to 23 months in jail plus five years of probation, with several felony counts -- including child pornography and terroristic threats -- dismissed as part of the plea agreement.