{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-05T06:38:42.033Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"albany-county","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-albany-county-new-york-sheriffs-investigator-flock-alpr-4000-searches-former-girlfriend-charged","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'is accused of conducting more than 4,000 unauthorized searches involving five people known to her. That includes tracking a former girlfriend’s vehicle around 3,000 times and running four additional plates hundreds of times each.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff's office says the investigator conducted more than 4,000 unauthorized searches involving five people known to the investigator, including tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle around 3,000 times and running four additional plates hundreds of times each.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's office's accusation as reported by CBS6 Albany; no audit record or charging document was inspected."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said an outside source Friday prompted the investigation'; 'was arrested Wednesday'; 'is charged with official misconduct and falsifying business records. Both charges are misdemeanors.'; 'She has also been suspended indefinitely from the Sheriff’s Office, pending further administrative action.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff said an outside source prompted the investigation; the investigator was arrested on 9 September 2026, charged with official misconduct and falsifying business records, both misdemeanors, and suspended indefinitely.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's statements as reported; the arrest date is the article's publication date (9 September 2026, a Wednesday), which the article gives as 'Wednesday'. The charges are allegations."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'has tightened its restrictions on who has access to Flock data'; 'an additional command staff member was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff said the office has tightened restrictions on access to Flock data, and an additional command staff member was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.","causal_attribution":"The sheriff's statements as reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"vehicles searched more than 4,000 times in total in a police license-plate-reader system by a sheriff's investigator who knew them (five people, including a former girlfriend whose vehicle was searched about 3,000 times)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/sheriffs-office-employee-arrested-accused-of-unauthorized-access-to-law-databases-albany-county-sheriffs-office-press-conference-case-enforcement-wednesday-sept-9-2026-craig-d-apple-sr-district-attorney-lee-c-kindlon-cbs6-wrgb","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-05 (live; CBS6 Albany, WRGB; published 9 September 2026). Reports the sheriff's and district attorney's press conference.","independence_group":"albany-county-sheriff-2026-09-09-press-conference"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["Who the five people were, beyond the former girlfriend, and how they knew the investigator.","When the searches were run. The sheriff said only that the investigator's access to the Flock system dated roughly to the end of 2024.","Whether any of the five people knew of the searches or experienced further consequences.","The outcome of the criminal case and of the administrative action."],"geography":{"basis":"The investigator worked for the Albany County Sheriff's Office in New York and is due in New Scotland Town Court (CBS6 Albany). The five people are not identified and their residences are not stated, so affected_person_countries is left unknown.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy case, consistent with the held Flock officer-misuse rows: the Albany County Sheriff's Office says a senior investigator ran more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock searches on five people known to the investigator, including about 3,000 tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle, and the investigator has been charged. The charges are allegations. The automated readers generated the plate-read records; the misuse is recorded as a human act. Neither the investigator nor the five people are named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-05"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Albany County Sheriff's Office says the investigator ran the unauthorized searches in the Flock license-plate-reader system. The plate-read records were the system's output, and the misuse was a human act. The source does not describe the readers as AI.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"Albany County, New York: a senior sheriff's investigator was charged in September 2026, accused of more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock license-plate-reader searches on five people known to the investigator, including about 3,000 tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle","summary":"The Albany County Sheriff's Office in New York said a senior investigator conducted more than 4,000 unauthorized searches of the Flock license-plate-reader system involving five people known to the investigator. According to the sheriff's office, the searches include tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle around 3,000 times and running four other plates hundreds of times each. The sheriff said an outside source prompted the investigation. The investigator, a 13-year veteran of the office, was arrested on 9 September 2026 and charged with official misconduct and falsifying business records, both misdemeanors, and was suspended indefinitely. The sheriff said access to Flock data is now limited to supervisors and audited every 30 days. The five people are not identified, and the dates of the searches are not reported. The charges are allegations.","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-09","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader system used by the Albany County Sheriff's Office, New York, searched by the investigator through agency access (sheriff's office statement as reported by CBS6 Albany)","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Albany County Sheriff's Office, a senior investigator ran more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock license-plate-reader searches on five people known to the investigator, including about 3,000 tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":5,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Five people known to the investigator, per the sheriff's office. The searches include a former girlfriend's vehicle (around 3,000) and four additional plates (hundreds each) (CBS6 Albany, 9 September 2026). Exact 5 as stated by the sheriff's office; the report does not say whose the four additional plates were.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US-NY","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/sheriffs-office-employee-arrested-accused-of-unauthorized-access-to-law-databases-albany-county-sheriffs-office-press-conference-case-enforcement-wednesday-sept-9-2026-craig-d-apple-sr-district-attorney-lee-c-kindlon-cbs6-wrgb","primarySourceLabel":"CBS6 Albany (WRGB), 9 September 2026: Sheriff's investigator charged, accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-girlfriend","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-05T03:23:22.25774+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T03:23:22.25774+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","police-misuse","location-tracking","new-york","albany-county","criminal-charges","made-claim-about"]}]}