Flock safety are changing their settings makes no differnce
The short version: A settings tweak from Flock Safety is being called out as cosmetic — the underlying surveillance infrastructure and data-sharing risks remain unchanged.
Our Take
Credit to the creator behind Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency for pointing out something we see constantly in this space: a company announces a settings change or policy update, and the headlines treat it like meaningful reform. But as the video argues, tweaking a dashboard toggle doesn't touch the core problem — thousands of ALPR cameras are still logging every plate that passes, building location histories on ordinary drivers who've done nothing wrong, and that data is still available to a sprawling network of agencies with wildly inconsistent rules about who can query it and why.
This is the pattern worth watching closely. Flock Safety's business model depends on expanding camera coverage and keeping local governments comfortable with the arrangement, so cosmetic adjustments that generate a news cycle — without restricting data retention, audit access, or cross-agency sharing — cost the company very little. Meanwhile the surveillance footprint keeps growing underneath the press release. If you want to see how far that footprint already reaches in your own area, check our camera map.
The real fix isn't a settings menu, it's public pressure and policy that actually restricts what gets collected, how long it's kept, and who can access it without a warrant. If this video got you thinking about what's happening in your town, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back at the local level, where these decisions are actually made.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.