Western NC residents raise Flock camera concerns

Our Take

Credit to WLOS News 13 for showing what corporate damage control looks like in real time. Flock Safety didn't shrink its retention window from 30 days to 7 and tighten audit reasons because it suddenly discovered privacy matters — it did it because reporters kept exposing cops around the country using this network for things it was never supposed to be used for. Henderson County residents aren't fooled. A 1,000-signature petition doesn't disappear because a company press release uses the word "safeguards."

This is the pattern we track at DeFlock USA: communities find out these cameras are already bolted to poles near their homes, start asking questions, and only then get offered concessions that keep the surveillance network running rather than dismantling it. Shorter retention is nice. It doesn't change the fact that every plate on every car gets logged, time-stamped, and searchable by any agency plugged into the system — for however many days corporate policy allows this week.

If you're in Henderson County or anywhere else wondering what's already watching your commute, check our camera map and see what's nearby. And if you want to push back the way these residents are, our take-action page has the tools to get started.