FDOT orders removal of Flock cameras from state highways amid privacy, surveillance concerns

Our Take

Credit to WSVN-TV for surfacing this one: a state transportation agency telling Flock to pack up its cameras instead of rubber-stamping another expansion. That's not nothing. Most of the time these systems get bolted onto poles with zero public debate, and the first anyone hears about it is when a neighbor notices a new box blinking at an intersection. Having FDOT draw a line, even a procedural one about right-of-way and authority, cracks open a door that privacy advocates have been pushing on for years.

Don't mistake this for a full retreat, though. Removal from state highways doesn't mean removal from the county road a quarter-mile away, or the shopping center lot, or the HOA entrance down the street. Flock's business model depends on blanketing enough surface streets that cameras you can't see are still logging your plate. A memo about jurisdiction is a technicality win, not a privacy win, unless local governments follow suit and actually interrogate why these networks exist in the first place.

If you're in Florida or anywhere else, this is the moment to ask your own city council the same questions FDOT apparently asked: who authorized this, who has access to the data, and what oversight exists. Check our map to see what's already deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push your local officials before the next camera goes up unnoticed.