What in the Flock is going on at Jars in Michigan?
The short version: Rodney Hash exposes JARS Cannabis for posting a "No Flock Zone" sign in front of its own surveillance camera, cashing in on anti-ALPR sentiment while running cameras of its own.
Our Take
Credit to Rodney Hash for catching this one. A "No Flock Zone" sign sounds like a business taking a stand against automated plate readers, and the internet ate it up as a feel-good story. But as Hash points out, the sign was planted right in front of JARS Cannabis's own surveillance camera — which raises the obvious question of what exactly they were protesting, and what they're actually doing with the footage they collect.
This is the kind of performative privacy move that muddies the water for everyone actually fighting ALPR networks. Opposing Flock Safety's plate-reading dragnet is good. Using that opposition as a marketing hook while running your own camera system is something else entirely — it tells the public "we're the good guys" without any accountability for what the business itself is logging, storing, or sharing. Genuine resistance to mass surveillance means transparency about your own cameras too, not just a sign that trends well on social media.
If you want to know what's actually watching you — Flock or otherwise — check our camera map and see what's logged in your area. And if a business near you is leaning on anti-surveillance branding, ask them the same question Hash is asking: what's that camera actually for? Our take-action page has tools for pushing back for real.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Rodney Hash, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.