North Texas residents continue to share concerns over Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit to CBS Texas for showing up when a city actually holds a public meeting on Flock Safety cameras — that's more sunlight than most towns offer before quietly signing a contract. But the fact that Anna residents are "continuing" to share concerns tells you the first meeting didn't settle much. That's the pattern with ALPR rollouts nationwide: officials host a listening session, repeat talking points about stolen cars and Amber Alerts, and skip past the harder questions — who can query the database, how long is data kept, what agencies get access, and what happens when a hotlist is wrong.

Residents pushing back on privacy aren't being paranoid. Flock's network doesn't just catch the car you're looking for; it logs every car, every driver, every trip past the lens, building a map of ordinary movement that can be searched after the fact. Once that data exists, it gets shared — often with federal agencies, sometimes across state lines, for purposes well beyond the original sales pitch. A single town meeting can't undo that architecture, and "we'll take your concerns into consideration" isn't an audit.

If you're in Anna or anywhere else with Flock gear going up, check our camera map to see what's already been deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push your council for real transparency — public retention policies, audit logs, and a vote before cameras go in, not after.