A United States Senate subcommittee asks has flock ever been hacked?

Our Take

Credit to NJ.com for capturing this exchange, because it's exactly the kind of question that should've been asked years ago. Flock Safety has built a nationwide surveillance network on a simple pitch to local governments: trust us, it's secure. When a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism starts asking 'has this ever been hacked?' on the record, that trust-us model starts looking a lot shakier.

Here's the problem: a one-word denial from a company isn't an audit, and it isn't proof. Flock's cameras are quietly scanning plates in thousands of towns, feeding a searchable database that cops, and sometimes other agencies who shouldn't have access, can query. If that data has ever been exposed, misused, or accessed without authorization, the public has a right to know, not a right to take a corporate spokesperson's word for it. Lawmakers finally pushing for real answers is a small but meaningful crack in the armor of an industry that has mostly operated without independent scrutiny.

This is why local fights over Flock contracts matter so much. Every city council that approves one of these systems is making a bet on a company's internal security practices, often with zero outside verification. Check our camera map to see if these readers are already watching your neighborhood, and if you want to push back before your town signs another contract, our take-action page has what you need.