Auburn Strengthens Flock Safeguards After Immigration Access Incident

(AUBURN, WASHINGTON) Auburn officials have disabled a data-sharing feature in the city’s automated license plate reader network after a University of Washington report found that federal immigration enforcement accessed the system without the city’s knowledge. The city confirmed it turned off the “National Lookup” function in its Flock cameras and put new monitoring rules in place following the October 2025 findings that U.S. Border Patrol tapped into the network.

The move came after the University of Washington Center for Human Rights reported in October 2025 that Auburn’s Flock cameras—automated license plate readers—had been accessed by federal immigration enforcement agencies via the system’s National Lookup feature. In a city press release dated October 20, 2025, officials said Auburn Police leadership

“immediately acted and has since turned off that feature, effectively closing any potential backdoor that could have connected federal agencies to Auburn’s cameras,”

framing the step as a direct response to the disclosure and an effort to block any further unauthorized use.

Mayor Nancy Backus said the city was focused on repairing trust and making sure any technology the city uses stays within legal and ethical limits.

“The integrity of our public safety systems, and the trust our community places in them, is non-negotiable. We will continue to take every measure necessary to safeguard our data, uphold state law, and ensure our technology is used only for lawful and ethical policing purposes,”

she said, underscoring the city’s stance that the access was not permitted by Auburn. City leaders also drew a bright line regarding any relationship with federal immigration enforcement.

“We want to state clearly: this access occurred unknowingly to us. The City of Auburn has not knowingly allowed, nor will we allow, direct access to our Flock system by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Border Patrol, or any other federal immigration enforcement agency,”

officials said.

The city’s response centers on shutting off National Lookup and tightening oversight of who can see Auburn’s data. National Lookup is a Flock Safety feature that allows agencies to query license plate data across jurisdictions. Auburn’s settings had allowed a pathway where agencies outside the city, including federal immigration enforcement, could reach Auburn’s feeds. City officials said that channel is now closed and that new rules are intended to stop it from opening again.

Auburn Police Department has also adopted a monthly audit of access and usage records exported directly from the Flock system, according to the city. The department will scan those logs to see which agencies queried Auburn’s data and for what purpose. If any agency is found to be using Auburn’s Flock data for immigration enforcement purposes, city officials said that access is

“immediately and permanently revoked.”

The city added that it has rolled out enhanced monitoring protocols designed to catch and deter unauthorized access attempts in the future, though it did not detail the technical controls beyond the monthly reviews.

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights report, published in October 2025, flagged Auburn alongside other Washington cities where federal immigration enforcement reached local Flock systems through National Lookup. The report’s core finding was that the national sharing design of the Flock network had allowed access by agencies that local jurisdictions did not intend to authorize, including U.S. Border Patrol. City officials in Auburn said they were not aware of the access before the report and emphasized the corrective steps they took as soon as the finding was made public.

Flock cameras capture license plates and associated vehicle details, such as make and color, and store them in a searchable database. Police departments across the country use them to identify vehicles tied to active investigations, stolen cars, Amber Alerts, and other alerts. The Auburn system was configured to participate in Flock’s nationwide network, which can speed up searches when a vehicle of interest crosses city or state lines. But the same connectivity enabled National Lookup and opened the door to remote queries by agencies beyond those Auburn intended to collaborate with.

Auburn’s decision to switch off National Lookup highlights a growing tension between local control of surveillance tools and the national networks that technology vendors have built. City leaders in Auburn said the feature effectively created a backdoor to the city’s data, one they say is now firmly closed. The changes reflect a broader debate in Washington state about who gets to see local police data and under what conditions, especially when immigration enforcement may use that information to find people for civil immigration actions rather than criminal cases.

The city’s statement put accountability front and center, stressing that the access happened without Auburn’s knowledge and that the city would not knowingly open its Flock system to federal immigration enforcement. Officials said the new auditing routine should provide a clearer picture of access patterns and give Auburn a mechanism to detect and cut off improper use quickly. They also framed the steps as necessary to follow state law and to meet community expectations that local policing tools are not repurposed for unrelated federal enforcement.

The human impact sits just beneath the technical and policy fixes. The University of Washington report noted that similar access had occurred in other Washington cities, raising fears that routine local surveillance could be mined for immigration enforcement. While Auburn’s public response focused on settings and oversight, the report’s statewide lens pointed to privacy worries and the risk of chilling effects in neighborhoods with mixed-status families. The concern is that Flock cameras, installed to address local crime, might allow broader monitoring that people did not consent to and that city councils did not intend.

Auburn underscored that its response is aimed at restoring public trust. City leaders said they want residents to know that Flock cameras in Auburn are bound by local policies and state law, and that the city is actively checking who uses the data and why. The monthly reviews of Flock usage data exported directly from the system are designed to create a record trail, and the city’s promise that access tied to immigration enforcement will be

“immediately and permanently revoked”

signals a zero-tolerance approach. By shutting down National Lookup, Auburn also reduced the surface area for misuse, since external agencies can no longer reach Auburn’s feeds through that network pathway.

The case also underscores how quickly information can travel through national systems, sometimes faster than local oversight can keep up. Auburn’s Flock cameras were part of a national web that is advertised as a way to help solve crimes across borders. But when a feature like National Lookup is switched on, it can be difficult for a city to track every external query. Auburn’s new monitoring protocols aim to close that gap by pairing technical controls with regular audits, a way of reasserting local control over a widely shared platform.

There were no individual resident accounts in the city’s statements or the University of Washington report as of November 2, 2025, and Auburn did not name any specific instances where immigration arrests or actions stemmed from its Flock data. The absence of named cases does not lessen the stakes for the city’s immigrant communities. Local advocates often point to the uncertainty that follows such revelations, when people worry that a routine drive to work or school could be logged and later accessed in ways they did not expect. Auburn’s public messages appear tuned to that audience, with explicit assurances about blocking agencies like ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol from direct access.

Federal immigration enforcement agencies operate under federal law, and the U.S. Border Patrol is a part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection responsible for patrolling land borders and conducting certain enforcement activities near border zones. Auburn’s emphasis, however, is on the limits of local cooperation and the city’s control over its own data. Officials are drawing a distinction between what federal agencies can do and what Auburn allows with city systems, signaling that local policy can set stricter boundaries even when technology enables national reach.

For Auburn, the next test will be whether the new audits and monitoring protocols catch and deter any future improper access. The city said it will continue monthly reviews of Flock usage data and will revoke connections for agencies that use Auburn’s Flock cameras for immigration enforcement. Officials described the shutdown of National Lookup as a permanent fix to the pathway identified in the University of Washington report, and said they will keep refining oversight to prevent similar issues from recurring.

The city’s actions place it among Washington jurisdictions reexamining how they participate in national surveillance networks while keeping faith with residents who expect local tools to serve local goals. Auburn’s steps—disabling National Lookup, committing to a monthly audit of exported logs, and promising access will be

“immediately and permanently revoked”

if tied to immigration enforcement—are meant to send a clear message about control and accountability. The coming months will show whether those measures reassure residents and set a new baseline for how Flock cameras are governed in Auburn.

Mayor Backus framed it as both a technical and a trust problem, and one that requires strict lines.

“The integrity of our public safety systems, and the trust our community places in them, is non-negotiable,”

she said. With National Lookup switched off and audit routines in place, Auburn is betting that tighter controls can keep a powerful tool focused on local public safety, not federal immigration enforcement. City officials closed their statement with a direct pledge to residents:

“We want to state clearly: this access occurred unknowingly to us. The City of Auburn has not knowingly allowed, nor will we allow, direct access to our Flock system by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Border Patrol, or any other federal immigration enforcement agency.”