Oshkosh ends Flock Safety contract but will keep license plate readers

Our Take

Credit to NBC 26 for catching what a lot of headlines will miss: Oshkosh isn't ending automated surveillance of its residents' movements, it's just changing suppliers. "Ends Flock Safety contract" sounds like a win, but if the same poles, same cameras (or a rebranded equivalent), and same database of every car's comings and goings stay in place, the privacy problem hasn't gone anywhere. This is the shell game we see over and over—cities respond to public pressure by swapping vendors instead of asking whether they should be running dragnet plate surveillance at all.

Flock has become the poster child for ALPR overreach because of its national data-sharing network, aggressive sales tactics, and the sheer number of departments plugged into it. But the underlying technology—cameras that log every plate, every time, whether or not the driver is suspected of anything—is the actual civil liberties issue. Switching brands doesn't fix warrantless tracking, doesn't fix data retention policies, and doesn't fix the risk of that data ending up in the hands of ICE, bounty hunters, or whoever else can get a login. Oshkosh residents deserve real answers about what system replaces Flock, who audits it, and how long their location history is stored.

If you're in Oshkosh or anywhere else watching a city council do this same sleight-of-hand, don't let "we cut ties with Flock" end the conversation. Check our map to see what's actually deployed near you, and use our take-action guide to push for real transparency—not just a rebrand.