Public Officials Fear This: How YOU Can Use Surveillance Data Against Them
The short version: Business Reform's new video turns surveillance back on the surveillors, showing everyday people how to map ALPRs and file records requests to expose Flock Safety contracts.
Our Take
Business Reform's "Brushfires of Freedom" tour has clearly hit a nerve, and this video is a solid distillation of what grassroots pushback against ALPR networks actually looks like in practice. Instead of just venting about surveillance creep, the creator hands viewers concrete tools: crowdsourced camera mapping and state open records laws. That's exactly the kind of practical, nonpartisan resistance we've been arguing for — surveillance doesn't care if you're left or right, and neither does the paper trail you can pull on it.
The mapping piece matters more than people realize. Every Flock Safety camera logged publicly makes it harder for these networks to operate in the shadows, and it gives journalists, lawyers, and neighbors the raw data to ask "why is this here and who approved it?" If you haven't already, check our own camera map and add what you find in your town — it's one of the few counterweights to a system designed to be invisible by default.
The FOIA angle is the sleeper hit of this video. Contracts, retention policies, and vendor agreements are public record in most states, and they routinely reveal data-sharing deals residents never approved. If you want a template for getting started on your own town, our take-action page walks through it. Credit to Business Reform for turning a diffuse anxiety into an actual to-do list.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Business Reform, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.