Flock Camera Detector is due for a major upgrade. @FlockSafety #esp32 #customfirmware #privacy
The short version: A hobbyist hardware hacker shows that Flock is quietly changing its wireless footprint, forcing DIY detection tools to play catch-up in a cat-and-mouse surveillance arms race.
Our Take
Credit to COMSEC for doing the unglamorous work of actually testing Flock's hardware against the tools built to spot it. If their detector is suddenly taking way longer to find a single unit, that's a signal worth paying attention to: Flock appears to be tweaking its radios or beacon behavior, intentionally or not, in ways that degrade the community-built countermeasures people have come to rely on. That's the nature of this fight — it's not static. Companies iterate, and so do the people trying to hold them accountable.
This matters because ALPR detection hardware, whether it's a $20 ESP32 project or a polished commercial gadget, is one of the few ways ordinary drivers get any visibility into a surveillance system that was never built with their consent in mind. When that visibility starts to erode because a vendor shifted a signal or changed firmware, it's not a neutral technical hiccup — it's a reminder of how asymmetric this whole setup is. Flock controls the cameras, the data, and now apparently the detectability of their own gear. The public is left reverse-engineering scraps.
We'll be watching to see if COMSEC's promised upgrade closes that gap. In the meantime, don't rely on gadgets alone — check our camera map to see what's already been documented near you, and hit up take action if you want to push back on these deployments through your local council instead of just your car's dashboard.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of COMSEC, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.