Flock's "Immigration Violator" Hotlist Can Override Police Policy

Our Take

Verified Privacy VPN dug into something we've been warning about for a while: Flock's hot list categories aren't just for stolen cars and Amber Alerts. Buried in the admin panel is a preset labeled "Immigration Violator," and once a local police department flips that switch, every plate camera in town becomes a tool for checking passing vehicles against federal immigration databases — regardless of what the department's own written policy says about cooperating with ICE. That's not a bug in the system, it's the system working exactly as Flock designed it.

This matters because it exposes the lie behind every "local control" pitch Flock gives city councils. Departments sign contracts promising the cameras will only be used for specific, narrow purposes, then a dropdown menu quietly overrides that promise. Nobody votes on a dropdown. No public hearing covers a checkbox. Sanctuary city ordinances mean nothing if the surveillance infrastructure underneath them can be reconfigured by whoever has admin access, with no audit trail visible to the public.

Credit to Verified Privacy VPN for tracing the sourcing on this one — it's the kind of granular reporting this fight needs. If you want to see whether these cameras are already watching your commute, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back on your city council, our take action page has the tools to start.