The data existing is the problem, not who holds it

Our Take

Verified Privacy VPN's short cuts through a debate that's gone stale: we keep arguing about who's allowed to query the ALPR database, as if the problem is a rogue cop or a careless contractor. The creator's point lands hard — the record itself is the liability. A nationwide archive of everywhere your car has been is a target no matter how tight the access rules are, because rules change, vendors get breached, and "authorized use" always expands over time.

This is exactly why we treat Flock's growing camera network as a standing risk rather than a settled policy question. Audit logs and use policies are worth demanding, but they don't shrink the dataset — they just promise to watch who dips into it. The honest fix is fewer cameras, shorter retention, and real limits on what gets collected in the first place, not just better locks on the vault.

If you want to see how dense this collection has gotten near you, check our camera map, and if you're ready to push back locally, our take-action page has concrete steps — especially timely with the National Week of Action Against ALPRs kicking off this month.