Flock cameras and dragnet surveillance are violating Ohioan's civil liberties. #acluohio #dragnet
The short version: ACLU Ohio's short video spotlights how Flock ALPR networks sweep up every driver's movements, not just suspects', turning Ohio roads into a dragnet.
Our Take
Credit to ACLU Ohio for putting it plainly: this isn't targeted policing, it's dragnet surveillance. When a network of license plate readers logs every car that passes, cops don't need a warrant or even a suspect in mind — they just query the database after the fact. That's a fundamental inversion of how policing is supposed to work in a free society, and it's happening on Ohio streets with little public debate.
What makes Flock's model so corrosive is scale plus permanence. One camera on one road is a nuisance; thousands of networked cameras sharing data across city and county lines is a tracking system that can reconstruct anyone's daily movements, no crime required. Ohio joins a long list of states where local councils approved these systems without residents ever getting a real say.
If you're in Ohio or anywhere else, check our camera map to see what's already watching your neighborhood, and head to our take-action page for ways to push back at your next city council meeting.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of acluohio, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.