Drivers Sue San Jose Over Extensive Police Surveillance Cameras

Class action lawsuit challenges city's use of nearly 500 AI-powered vehicle tracking cameras.

Apr. 15, 2026 at 9:11pm

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An extreme close-up of a car license plate partially obscured by shadows, the harsh lighting and stark black background creating a gritty, investigative aesthetic that conceptually illustrates the privacy concerns over San Jose's expansive surveillance system.A surveillance camera's harsh flash illuminates a vehicle's license plate, exposing the invasive reach of San Jose's AI-powered vehicle tracking network.San Jose Today

Three drivers in San Jose, California, have filed a class action lawsuit against the city and police department over the deployment of nearly 500 surveillance cameras operated by Flock Safety, a tech company that uses AI and dedicated cameras to catalog vehicle movements across the state.

Why it matters

This lawsuit highlights growing concerns over the expansion of police surveillance technology and its potential impact on civil liberties, as well as the legal questions around the constitutionality of such widespread vehicle tracking systems.

The details

The lawsuit, organized by the Institute for Justice, alleges that San Jose's use of the Flock Safety cameras violates drivers' constitutional rights by conducting warrantless searches and seizures of vehicle location data. Flock Safety's systems use AI-powered cameras to automatically read license plates and catalog the time, date, and location of every vehicle that passes by.

  • The class action lawsuit was filed on April 15, 2026.

The players

Institute for Justice

A nonprofit law firm that filed the class action lawsuit against San Jose over its use of Flock Safety surveillance cameras.

Flock Safety

A tech company that provides AI-powered surveillance cameras and vehicle tracking systems to law enforcement agencies across the United States.

San Jose Police Department

The law enforcement agency in San Jose, California, that has deployed nearly 500 Flock Safety surveillance cameras across the city.

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What they’re saying

“The use of these cameras by the San Jose Police Department is a clear violation of our constitutional rights to privacy and due process.”

— Ari Bargil, Attorney, Institute for Justice

What’s next

The lawsuit will proceed through the court system, with a judge set to rule on the constitutionality of San Jose's use of the Flock Safety surveillance cameras.

The takeaway

This case highlights the growing tension between law enforcement's use of advanced surveillance technology and individual privacy rights, raising important questions about the limits of police power and the need for robust oversight and regulation of emerging AI-powered monitoring systems.