New Hanover County residents raise privacy concerns over Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit to WWAY News for capturing something that often happens out of public view: a room full of regular people showing up to tell their elected officials they don't want to live under a network of automated license plate readers. That New Hanover County commissioners had to sit through "dozens" of residents raising privacy concerns is exactly the kind of accountability moment that Flock Safety's sales pitch is designed to avoid — these systems usually get approved in quiet committee votes or consent agendas, long before most residents even know the cameras exist.

The concerns raised in rooms like this one are never hypothetical. Flock cameras log every plate that passes, building a searchable history of where people drive, when, and how often — data that can be pulled by any agency with network access, shared across jurisdictions, and retained well beyond what most residents assume. There's no warrant requirement, no independent audit most communities ever see, and a documented history of misuse elsewhere, from stalking by officers to immigration enforcement fishing expeditions. New Hanover residents are right to ask who's watching the watchers before the cameras go up, not after.

If you live in New Hanover County or anywhere else wondering whether you're already being tracked, check our camera map to see what's nearby, and visit our take-action page for tools to push back at your own county meeting before the vote happens without you.