Donavan Haidinger and two groups sued Waukesha County and 11 municipalities Sept. 10, seeking to require warrants before police search Flock’s location database unless a recognized exception applies. He says a nearby camera records his vehicle on nearly every trip.
Haidinger lives in Oconomowoc and filed with NoCams Muskego and Citizens Defending Liberty; the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty represents them. The lawsuit says more than 120 government-operated cameras are across Waukesha County. The plaintiffs rely on the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in Chatrie v. United States, which held that police obtaining a person’s Google location history was a Fourth Amendment search. That ruling did not address Flock and left a question about the Google case’s warrant for a lower court. The plaintiffs are not seeking a camera ban.
Flock says access is limited to approved users, searches are logged and users must give an investigation-related reason; agencies choose whether to share data with others. Since the suit, Oconomowoc voted to end its Flock contracts and covered its cameras, Waukesha voted not to fund its program beyond 2026, and Mukwonago is transitioning away. The plaintiffs say local camera closures may not resolve their concern if officers can search data shared by other Flock users.
