Secretary of State: Mount Prospect license-plate reader data improperly accessed in abortion, immigration searches

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said Texas authorities looking for a woman who went missing after an abortion improperly accessed information from automated license-plate readers maintained by Mount Prospect and other law enforcement agencies.

In addition, Giannoulias said Mount Prospect license-plate reader data was also improperly accessed to conduct hundreds of searches related to immigration matters.

As a result, Giannoulias announced Thursday his office has instructed the operator of the reader network, Flock Safety, to block 46 out-of-state law enforcement agencies from accessing Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) system.

The Secretary of State’s office has also contacted the Illinois attorney general’s office to investigate the matter for any possible criminal charges and is establishing an audit system with additional safeguards to ensure any law enforcement entity using an ALPR in Illinois abides by state law.

Illinois state law prohibits local law enforcement from sharing information gathered from license-plate readers with out-of-state police if they are using it to track someone seeking reproductive-care services or for immigration matters.

In May, the secretary of state’s office said, law enforcement authorities in Texas, where abortion is banned in most cases, performed a nationwide search of data from more than 83,000 cameras to locate the woman. Included in the search were cameras located in states where abortion is legal, according to the secretary.

The secretary of state’s office said Mount Prospect’s ALPR settings provided a gateway into Illinois’ system operated by Flock for an unauthorized use.

“This is not about banging on Mount Prospect,” Giannoulias said during a press conference Thursday. “This is about more broadly making sure that law enforcement agencies in Illinois follow the law and don't give out personal data for reasons that should not be allowed.”

According to the village, Mount Prospect police learned at the end of May that the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department in Texas utilized the Flock Safety “National Lookup” feature, accessing the data that included Mount Prospect’s.

Police, officials said, did not have a data-sharing agreement with this Johnson County and reached out to Flock Safety to inquire about the search.

Flock Safety, village officials said, explained that opting into the “National Lookup” feature, which Mount Prospect did, it permitted other law enforcement agencies that also utilized this feature to search Mount Prospect’s ALPR data without a data-sharing agreement.

“I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law, in order to gain access to our ALPR data, conducted illegal searches violating the trust of our community,” Mount Prospect police Chief Michael Eterno said in a statement.

Mount Prospect officials said they were made aware of the secretary of state’s investigation Wednesday evening.

According to a statement from Flock, the Texas sheriff’s office was searching for the woman after her family said she had a “self-administered” abortion and then ran away. The statement said her family feared for her safety. She was later found safe in Dallas, the statement said.

Mount Prospect officials said Thursday that police were unaware of the immigration searches until notified by the secretary of state’s office Wednesday.

Data from Mount Prospect, along with other Illinois law enforcement agencies, was accessed through the Flock Safety “National Lookup” feature by other law enforcement agencies for purposes of immigration enforcement, officials said.

More than 260 immigration-related searches were made between Jan. 14 and April 30 using Mount Prospect data, the secretary of state’s office said.

Village officials said the use of the data for this purpose does not align with the Mount Prospect police department’s values and is a clear violation of state law.

Mount Prospect spent $140,000 in 2023 to acquire 24 license plate reading cameras using federal asset seizure funds.

“As disappointed as I am with these other agencies, I want to emphasize that no member of the Mount Prospect Police Department shared ALPR data in violation of the law. I realize that this misuse of Mount Prospect’s ALPR data violates the trust of our community, and we as a department will continue to work to enhance the Flock ALPR software and ensure this abuse does not occur in the future,” Eterno said.

Village officials said the police department has opted out of the “National Lookup” feature. It has also canceled any data-sharing agreement with law enforcement agencies who violated Illinois law.

In addition, police have revoked access to ALPR data for all law enforcement agencies outside Illinois. The police department will update its ALPR policy to include regular audits of searches by internal and external users.

Giannoulias stressed that his office fully supports the legitimate use of license-plate readers for law enforcement purposes, including solving violent crimes, recovering stolen vehicles and preventing carjackings.

Sarah Garza Resnick, CEO of the reproductive rights advocacy group Personal PAC, supports Giannoulias’ decision.

“Patients rely on Illinois for abortion access that they need, and it is on us to ensure that their right to receive that care is protected in our state,” she said. “We applaud Secretary Giannoulias for taking swift action in looking into the alleged violations of the ALPR data act.”

Agencies shut off from the system can regain access once they demonstrate compliance with Illinois law, Giannoulias said.

“We cannot allow these agencies to erode fundamental rights, disregard basic moral decency, ignore constitutional protections or prosecute innocent people,” he added.