Flock announces changes amid backlash over its license plate reader network
The short version: 6abc Philadelphia reports Flock Safety is tweaking its ALPR network after mounting public backlash, but cosmetic fixes don't address the core surveillance problem.
Our Take
Credit to 6abc Philadelphia for putting a local news lens on a story that keeps popping up in cities across the country: Flock Safety facing heat and promising "changes" to how its license plate reader network operates. When a company only starts adjusting its practices after backlash builds, that's a pretty clear sign the original rollout wasn't built with public accountability in mind to begin with.
We'll believe meaningful reform when we see the specifics, not just a press-release promise. Flock has a well-worn pattern: expand quietly, get caught doing something the public didn't sign off on, then announce "changes" that soften the PR hit without actually shrinking the surveillance footprint or the data-sharing pipelines feeding law enforcement and, in some cases, federal agencies. Cosmetic policy tweaks don't undo the fact that a private company is capturing the movements of ordinary people who never consented to being tracked.
If your town has these cameras — and there's a good chance it does — you deserve to know where they are and who's watching. Check our map to see what's been documented near you, and head to our take-action page if you want to push back at the local level before the next round of "changes" gets announced.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of 6abc Philadelphia, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.