Greg Abbott freezes new Flock cameras on Texas roads but allows existing ones to remain
The short version: Texas has stopped approving new Flock ALPR permits on state highways, but every camera already installed stays live and recording.
Our Take
Credit to The Washington Examiner for getting confirmation that Gov. Abbott's office has quietly frozen new ALPR permits on Texas state roads. But don't mistake a pause for a rollback. Every camera already bolted to a pole along those highways keeps scanning plates, building location histories, and feeding data into Flock's national network. A freeze on new permits is not the same as an audit of existing ones, and it does nothing to address who can query that data or how long it's retained.
This is the pattern we keep seeing: public pressure forces officials to stop the bleeding at the point of installation while leaving the existing surveillance infrastructure completely untouched. Texans should be asking why the cameras already up weren't part of this review, and whether 'no new permits' is a real policy shift or just a convenient pause until the news cycle moves on. Freezes can be lifted quietly the same way they were announced.
If you want to know what's actually watching your plates right now in Texas or anywhere else, check our camera map. And if you think your city council or state legislature should be doing more than freezing permits, our take-action page has concrete steps to push for real accountability, not just a pause button.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of The Washington Examiner, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.