Texas Sheriff Uses Flock Safety's 83,000 Camera Network to Track Woman Who Had Abortion

Electronic Frontier Foundation reveals that a Johnson County, Texas sheriff’s officer searched data from more than 83,000 automated license plate reader cameras across 6,809 different Flock Safety camera networks to track down a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion. The search spanned multiple states, including Washington and Illinois where abortion access is protected by law. The officer’s search query included: “had an abortion, search for female.”

Sheriff Adam King initially described the investigation as a welfare check for a woman “believed to be harmed or in danger,” claiming they were “just trying to check on her welfare.” However, court records obtained by EFF reveal that police actually opened a “death investigation” into the fetus and consulted the District Attorney about criminal charges on the same day they conducted the Flock search—directly contradicting claims that the search was for her medical safety.

The case exposes how Flock Safety’s nationwide surveillance network enables reproductive rights enforcement across state lines, allowing law enforcement in states with abortion bans to track women’s movements in states where abortion remains legal. The technology creates what privacy advocates call a “dystopian surveillance state” where women can be tracked for accessing constitutionally protected healthcare.

Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robert Garcia launch a formal House Oversight Committee investigation into Flock’s role in “enabling invasive surveillance practices that threaten the privacy, safety, and civil liberties of women, immigrants, and other vulnerable Americans.” Senator Ron Wyden secures a commitment from Flock to protect Oregonians’ data from out-of-state abortion-related queries.

In response to mounting pressure, Flock announces new features supposedly designed to prevent future abuses, though critics argue these are insufficient given the fundamental capabilities of the surveillance network.