How Flock protects citizen privacy and uses hot lists
The short version: A local watchdog channel examines Flock Safety's privacy claims and hot-list system, raising the same accountability questions we keep seeing nationwide.
Our Take
Credit to Beaufort County's House of Cards for digging into how Flock frames its own privacy protections and hot lists — the alert lists that flag plates tied to warrants, stolen vehicles, or whatever a department decides to upload. These are exactly the kinds of local investigations that matter, because Flock's marketing material and a department's actual practices are often two very different things.
The core problem with "hot lists" isn't the concept, it's the lack of guardrails. Who decides what goes on the list, how long it stays there, and whether it gets audited for misuse? Agencies have quietly added immigration-related and out-of-state abortion-related flags to these systems before, often without public notice. "Protecting privacy" means little if the list itself can be expanded in secret and the footage shared far beyond the county that paid for the cameras.
If you want to know whether these cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map, and if your town is considering a Flock contract, see our take-action resources before the council votes.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Beaufort County's House of Cards, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.