I don’t have a problem with them. They solve or assist to solve a lot of crimes. Also it’s a public road. No expectation of privacy imo
Well, after reading this response from GROK, I have a problem with them!
Illegitimate or abusive use of Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras has led to stalking, unauthorized data sharing, privacy invasions, wrongful stops/arrests, discriminatory targeting, and other harms. These stem from the system’s design: a large national network of cameras (over 100,000 reported) that capture plate numbers, vehicle details, locations, and timestamps; data retained for periods like 30 days by default; and searches that typically require no warrant, often with minimal or easily bypassed justification (e.g., vague terms like “investigation”).9724d9
CNN
Stalking and Personal Misuse by Officers
Dozens of documented cases (at least 50 involving ALPR systems overall, many specifically Flock) involve law enforcement officers using the system to track romantic partners, exes, their new partners, or others without legitimate investigative purpose.abbead
Washington Post
Officers have searched plates hundreds of times (e.g., ~600 times in one Georgia case involving a police chief and a woman plus her teenage daughter; ~170–400 times in various Wisconsin, Missouri, and Kansas cases).c36afc
Washington Post
Outcomes include firings, resignations, criminal charges (stalking, misconduct, computer crime), probation, and restraining orders. Specific examples include officers in Milwaukee (WI), Sedgwick (KS), Joplin (MO), Albany (GA), and elsewhere.261d3d
CNN
The ease of access (no warrant or strong case-number requirement in many places) enables this; audit logs sometimes catch it after the fact, but oversight varies widely by department.
Unauthorized Data Sharing and Federal Access
Local camera data has been accessed or shared far beyond intended limits, often without city knowledge or consent:
“National” or “statewide” lookup settings enabled searches by hundreds of outside agencies (including federal ones). Examples: Mountain View, CA (hundreds of thousands of unauthorized searches); Dayton, OH (thousands of immigration-related searches against local policy); San Francisco (hundreds of thousands to over a million queries by federal/out-of-state agencies alleged in lawsuits).5cf3d4
Techtimes
Data used for immigration enforcement (ICE/CBP) despite some state laws or local policies prohibiting it, and for abortion-related tracking in restrictive states (e.g., Texas cases involving “missing person” pretenses or direct abortion notes).3c981c
Eff
This has prompted dozens of cities (50+) to cancel or reject contracts.
Privacy Invasions and Mass Surveillance Effects
Continuous logging creates detailed “patterns of life” (visits to doctors, religious sites, political events, homes, etc.) without individualized suspicion.6ab4fb
CNN
Broader features (vehicle characteristics, sometimes more) and network scale allow tracking across jurisdictions.
Additional issues: Flock employees reportedly using footage of children at community centers for sales demos; past security vulnerabilities (exposed cameras, outdated software) raising risks of unauthorized access.31eae4
Engadget
Wrongful Stops, Arrests, and Errors
ALPR misreads (e.g., 0 vs. O, plate frames, similar numbers) or flawed database matches have led to:
Armed stops, K-9 deployments, hospitalizations, false arrests, job/home loss, and trauma (e.g., Brandon Upchurch in Ohio; family held at gunpoint in Colorado; other Colorado and Arkansas cases).3a43db
Theflaw
Charges often dropped later, but harms persist.
Discriminatory or Chilling Uses
Searches targeting protesters/political activity, Romani communities (with slurs or “traveler” terms), or other groups without clear crime links.63374d
Eff
Potential for racial profiling in stops.
Broader Consequences
These problems have fueled backlash: contract terminations or rejections in dozens of municipalities, new state laws restricting ALPR use/retention/sharing (e.g., Washington), lawsuits alleging Fourth Amendment violations (warrantless mass surveillance), vandalism of cameras, and calls for warrants, stricter audits, shorter retention, and limits on sharing. Critics (ACLU, EFF, Institute for Justice) argue the lack of strong guardrails makes abuse predictable; Flock and supporters note crime-solving benefits, audit tools, and that many courts have upheld ALPR use as constitutional for public-road photography.3f75dc
Govtech
In short, while intended for legitimate policing, the scale, accessibility, and weak default constraints of Flock systems have enabled significant illegitimate uses with real individual and societal costs.
