Frustrating! #flock #privacy

Our Take

Credit to Daytona Beach Lawyer for naming a problem we hear about constantly: you file a public records request for Flock camera data, and the agency hides behind decades-old statutory exemptions never written with networked license plate surveillance in mind. These laws were drafted for paper files and the occasional patrol car camera, not a nationwide web of cameras logging your movements dozens of times a day. Agencies are stretching old legal language to dodge modern accountability, and it's working.

This matters because transparency is the only check most of us have on how these systems get used. If departments can deny records requests about retention periods, audit logs, or who's accessing the data and why, the public is left trusting police on faith alone — the same police who've already shown a pattern of misuse, data sharing with ICE, and mission creep well beyond the "find the stolen car" pitch Flock sells to city councils.

Know where the cameras are in your area and push your local officials for real oversight — retention limits, audit trails, and public reporting aren't radical asks. Check our camera map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, and visit our take-action page for tools to push back before these outdated loopholes become permanent cover for permanent surveillance.