The DeFlock movement is pushing back against AI mass surveillance in the U.S.

Our Take

Cybernews put a spotlight on something we live every day: a patchwork, poorly-disclosed network of license plate readers that quietly logs where you drive, when, and how often — all without a warrant. Their rundown of the backlash, from city councils yanking contracts to people spray-painting cameras in frustration, captures a real and growing public mood. We don't endorse vandalism, but we understand why people are furious when a private company's cameras end up photographing their driveway with zero public vote.

The more durable fight is the boring, lawful kind: open records requests, council meetings, and crowdsourced mapping that makes this infrastructure visible instead of invisible. That's the whole point of projects like ours — our camera map turns scattered sightings into a public record communities can actually use to push back, city by city, the same way the 80+ cancellations cited in the video happened.

If this story made you want to do more than just get angry at your screen, channel it. Check whether Flock or a similar ALPR system is already running in your town, show up to the next council meeting, and use our action guide to push for transparency, retention limits, or outright cancellation. Credit to Cybernews for putting a mainstream lens on a fight that's been building in city council chambers for years — the more people who see it, the harder it gets to install these systems quietly.