India, Oct. 5 -- A federal judge in Oklahoma has raised new Fourth Amendment concerns over how law enforcement uses Flock Safety's license-plate data. The ruling focused on one police search, but it has broader implications for privacy and surveillance. TechCrunch

U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill ruled that a Tulsa County sheriff's deputy violated the Fourth Amendment when he searched a vehicle's historical location data through Flock and another license-plate reader system without a warrant. The search produced more than 50 sightings of the vehicle across several states over roughly a month.

The case involved a woman whose vehicle had California plates. According to the ruling, the deputy searched the database before identifying a traf...