License Plate Reader Cameras Must Leave Florida State Roads; Flock Cameras Still Active in Tampa Bay

Our Take

Tampa Bay 28's reporting on Florida's September 30th deadline for pulling license plate readers off state roads is a useful reminder of how narrow these 'wins' usually are. A state can order cameras off its highways and still leave thousands of them humming along on county roads, city streets, and shopping center entrances — which is exactly what's happening here. Flock Safety doesn't need the interstate; it needs the corner by your kid's school.

This is the shell game surveillance companies and the local agencies that love them are very good at playing. Lawmakers get to claim a privacy victory, Flock gets to keep its subscription revenue flowing, and the actual tracking of where you drive, when, and how often continues uninterrupted just a few hundred feet off the original right-of-way. The jurisdiction changes, the practice doesn't.

If you're in Tampa Bay or anywhere else wondering whether a 'ban' actually touched the cameras near you, don't take a press release's word for it — check our camera map to see what's actually deployed in your area, and if you want to push back on a local contract or council vote, our take-action page has next steps. Credit to Tampa Bay 28 for keeping an eye on the gap between the law on paper and the hardware still bolted to the poles.