The Questions Flock Still Can't Answer

Our Take

Proton — the privacy company behind encrypted email and VPN tools — just put out a video asking the kind of questions we've been hammering on for a while: who audits Flock's data, how long is it kept, who gets access, and why a private company with no public oversight ends up running what amounts to a national vehicle-tracking network. Credit to the Proton team for putting this in front of a mainstream privacy audience that may have never heard of Flock Safety before. The more people outside the usual surveillance-watchdog circles start asking Flock to show its work, the harder it gets for the company to coast on vague PR language about 'public safety' instead of actual answers.

What strikes us every time one of these explainers comes out is how consistent the pattern is: local police departments quietly sign contracts, cameras go up on roads and intersections with zero public hearing, and residents only find out when someone points a camera out or a journalist files a records request. That's not an accident — it's the business model. Flock sells convenience to police chiefs and county commissioners, and the privacy costs get externalized onto everyone who drives past a reader, logged into a database that can be queried, shared, and in some cases accessed by federal agencies with far less friendly purposes than the original pitch.

If this video made you want to know whether your own neighborhood is already wired up, check our camera map to see what's been documented near you. And if you're ready to do something about it beyond watching, our take-action page has concrete steps for pushing back at the city council level, where these contracts actually get approved.