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Flock Safety license-plate cameras face bipartisan privacy scrutiny as 23 jurisdictions cancel use

techAug 10, 202618392

Twenty three U.S. jurisdictions have canceled contracts with Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras amid bipartisan privacy scrutiny after reports of misuse and expanded deployments. New documents and court records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show Texas deputies queried Flock data in an abortion investigation. Civil liberties groups including the American Civil Liberties Union warn the systems threaten Fourth Amendment protections while Flock defends the product as capturing only publicly visible information, not using facial recognition, and not selling customer data. Flock says customers control data sharing. The network has grown rapidly, with over 127,000 cameras installed across the United States and Puerto Rico, prompting state and federal responses. Texas Representative Keith Self proposed requiring warrants to access Flock data, while Representatives Tim Burchett and Thomas Massie have introduced measures to restrict federal use of such technologies. Federal pilot programs that used Flock data to address human trafficking and fentanyl distribution were suspended after backlash, and lawmakers in Michigan and Connecticut urged pauses or halts on new installations. Local activists organized by groups such as DeFlock, whose founder Will Freeman said grassroots pushback is working, have helped drive some municipal cancellations and a broader National Week of Action against automated license plate readers in the Bay Area.

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