Privacy Tool Tracks Flock Safety Surveillance Cameras Nationwide
A searchable tool, DeFlock.org, helps communities map Flock Safety automated license plate readers across the U.S., highlighting growing opposition to mass surveillance and the need for stronger privacy protections.
A new searchable tool, DeFlock.org, enables residents to locate Flock Safety automated license plate readers (ALPRs) across the U.S., revealing the scale of a surveillance network that tracks every vehicle entering a camera's view for up to 30 days. This initiative, backed by the ACLU and other privacy advocates, counters the rapid expansion of Flock cameras—installed by police departments, businesses, and HOAs—without public consent. The tool empowers citizens to identify camera locations and advocate for local ordinances to restrict data retention, require warrants, or ban ALPRs outright. At stake is Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless surveillance, as these cameras operate without judicial oversight, disproportionately targeting communities of color and activists.
The humanitarian alternative
Rather than a private, unregulated national surveillance system, cities should pass ordinances requiring that any ALPR data be retained for no more than 72 hours, accessed only with a court order, and subject to annual public audits. Federal legislation, like the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act, should extend to license plate readers, banning the sharing of ALPR data with federal immigration enforcement without a warrant. Community control over surveillance technology—including public votes on contracts and mandatory transparency reports—can balance public safety interests with civil liberties, ensuring that cameras are used solely for specific, high-crime investigations rather than mass data collection.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- At least 10 states will introduce or pass laws restricting Flock ALPR data retention to 72 hours or less within the next year.
- The ACLU's DeFlock campaign will document a 20% or greater increase in the number of mapped Flock cameras within six months.
- A federal court will rule within 18 months that warrantless use of Flock ALPR data violates the Fourth Amendment in at least one circuit.
Grounded in
Original source — excerpted
news This Searchable Tool Is Helping Track Flock Surveillance Cameras in Your City"Recent coverage of Flock Safety, the fast‑growing US surveillance technology company, reveals how opposition to automated license plate readers is playing out..."