Lawsuit over Flock cameras

Our Take

Credit to KING 5 Seattle for digging into a fight that gets to the heart of the Flock problem: these cameras scan and store data on every driver who passes, yet when an ordinary citizen asks who's looking at that data and why, cities and Flock itself often go quiet. A public records request shouldn't turn into a lawsuit, but that's exactly what's happening in Skagit County.

This case matters because it tests whether the public actually has a right to know how their own government is using mass surveillance tech bought with taxpayer dollars. Flock loves to tout its 'transparency portal,' but portals mean nothing if the underlying records — audit logs, search justifications, data-sharing agreements — stay locked away when someone comes asking. If a city and a private surveillance vendor can jointly slow-walk a records request into a courtroom, that's a signal every resident near a Flock camera should take seriously.

We'll be watching how this Skagit County case develops, because the outcome could set precedent for what cities owe the public in accountability. Check our camera map to see if Flock has already rolled into your town, and if it has, don't wait for a lawsuit — start asking your own questions now.