Researcher's Map Finds 300,000 Flock Cameras vs 120,000 Disclosed

Our Take

CISO Marketplace is reporting on an independent mapping effort that found Flock Safety's ALPR network may be close to triple the size the company has publicly disclosed — an estimated 300,000 cameras versus the oft-cited 120,000. We can't verify the researcher's methodology ourselves, but the gap itself is the story: if a lone analyst can find that many more cameras than the vendor admits to, it means the public, lawmakers, and even some police departments are making decisions about this technology with a badly undercounted picture of how pervasive it already is.

This is exactly the problem crowdsourced tracking exists to solve. Corporate disclosure numbers are marketing copy, not audits, and Flock has every incentive to keep the scale of its network vague while it pitches new contracts to city councils. Independent verification — camera by camera, intersection by intersection — is the only way residents get an honest answer to "how many of these things are actually watching my commute."

Credit to the CISO Marketplace channel for digging into the discrepancy. If you want to see what's been documented in your own area, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on unchecked ALPR expansion, our take-action page has concrete steps.