Flock to make changes after months of continued backlash
The short version: Flock says it's reforming its ALPR database after sustained public pressure, but promises to fix a surveillance system aren't the same as dismantling one.
Our Take
InvestigateTV's reporting confirms what we've been saying for months: the backlash against Flock Safety isn't fading, and now the company is scrambling to respond with promised changes to its license plate database. Credit to their newsroom for keeping the pressure on and documenting the company's own admission that something needed to change. That admission matters — it's a tacit acknowledgment that the "just trust us" approach to mass surveillance data has been failing the public.
But let's be clear-eyed about what "updates" from a surveillance vendor actually mean. Flock doesn't answer to the communities its cameras watch — it answers to its customers, which are police departments and HOAs, and to its investors. Cosmetic database tweaks or tighter internal policies don't change the fundamental problem: a private company is building a searchable, networked record of where millions of ordinary people drive, parked outside churches, clinics, protests, and homes, often with little to no public oversight or opt-out.
If you want to know whether one of these cameras is already logging your plate, check our camera map. And if your city council or local government is quietly signing contracts with Flock, don't wait for the company to police itself — head to our take-action page and push back before the cameras go up.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of InvestigateTV, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.