Flock caught removing audit data
The short version: A YouTube creator alleges Flock Safety altered or scrubbed audit logs, reviving old questions about whether ALPR 'accountability' tools can be trusted when the vendor controls the data.
Our Take
Credit to The Unraveling (Yersocialistdad) for digging into this — audit logs are supposed to be the one check ordinary people and journalists have on how license plate reader networks get used. If those logs can quietly change or disappear, the whole premise of 'transparency dashboards' and 'audit trail' marketing falls apart. We haven't independently verified the specifics in this video, but the underlying concern is one we've flagged before: police departments and the public are told to trust self-reported audit data from the same company selling the surveillance system.
This matters because Flock's pitch to city councils always leans on accountability features — the idea that every search is logged and reviewable. If that data can be edited after the fact, with no independent custody or public retention guarantee, then oversight is theater, not substance. Any agency relying on Flock's own portal for compliance checks is trusting the vendor to grade its own homework.
If you want to see how far this network has spread in your own town, check our camera map, and if you think your city council should be asking Flock hard questions about data retention and audit integrity, our take-action page has steps for pushing back before the next contract renewal.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of The Unraveling | Yersocialistdad, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.