A Flock camera scans license plates in Pleasant Hill. Many law enforcement agencies across the country are using the surveillance technology 

In the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Carpenter v. United States, which set limits on the government’s ability to access a person’s cell phone location data, Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged that modern technology has become an invaluable tool for law enforcement. But he cautioned that those same tools create a risk of “government encroachment of the sort the Framers, after consulting the lessons of history, drafted the Fourth Amendment to prevent.”

The rapid expansion of a nationwide automated license plate reader network illustrates precisely the danger Roberts foresaw in the 2018 ruling.

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Last month, Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors approved a new $2.4 million contract extension with Flock Safety for the Georgia-based security company’s surveillance technology, which is deployed in 49 states. Many other Bay Area cities and counties, including San Francisco and San Jose, already use Flock cameras.

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Alameda County Supervisors Nikki Fortunato and Elisa Márquez opposed the renewal, arguing that Flock’s system lacked adequate safeguards against misuse. Supervisors David Haubert and Nate Miley supported the contract, with Miley saying he would not be doing his job if he denied the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office access to the........

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