Flock's "Immigration Violator" Setting, Explained

Our Take

Credit to Verified Privacy VPN for pulling back the curtain on something Flock would rather you not think too hard about: a checkbox that lets an ALPR network cross-reference every passing plate against federal immigration databases. This isn't a hypothetical mission-creep scenario anymore — it's a setting sitting in the admin panel of a system your local police department may have signed up for with zero public debate. If a feature like this exists, ask why, and ask who at your agency turned it on.

The gap between what a department's written policy says and what the software is actually configured to do is exactly the kind of accountability black hole we've been warning about. A city council can pass all the 'we don't cooperate with ICE' resolutions it wants, but if the backend defaults to checking a federal violator list, the policy is just a press release. Vendors selling 'public safety' tools shouldn't get to quietly redefine what counts as suspicious enough to track.

If you want to know whether this kind of surveillance infrastructure is already watching your commute, check our camera map and see what's nearby. Then head to our take-action page for concrete steps to push your local government for real transparency on how these systems are configured, not just what the brochure promises.