Flock cameras are everywhere.

Our Take

Bob Michie's Cyber Unfiltered takes on a question we ask constantly here at DeFlock: when a surveillance network built on cloud servers, third-party data sharing, and opaque retention policies spreads to thousands of towns, who actually holds it accountable? The framing of "who is watching the watchers" cuts right to the core problem with Flock Safety's business model. These cameras aren't run by your local police chief alone — they're run by a private company with its own incentives, its own security practices, and its own track record that most residents never get to see.

Cybersecurity is the angle that doesn't get enough attention in this debate. Every ALPR camera is a networked device collecting plate reads, timestamps, and location data, often shared across jurisdictions through Flock's national lookup system. A breach, a leak, or just sloppy access controls on that data isn't a hypothetical risk — it's a direct threat to anyone whose movements get logged just for driving down a public street. That's before you even get to the question of law enforcement misuse, which has already happened in multiple documented cases nationwide.

We're glad to see independent creators like Bob Michie pushing this conversation into spaces beyond the usual privacy advocacy circles. If you want to see how dense this surveillance net is in your own area, check out our camera map, and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action resources walk through how to get these systems in front of your city council.