ArtPrize clarifies that FlockX isn't Flock Safety

Our Take

Credit to 13 On Your Side for running this down, because the confusion itself tells you something. People heard the word "Flock" attached to a tech platform and immediately assumed surveillance cameras were involved. That's not paranoia — that's brand recognition. Flock Safety's network of automated license plate readers has spread into so many towns, parking lots, and neighborhoods that the name now triggers an instinctive "wait, is this another one of those?" response from ordinary people, even when it's just an unrelated voting app for an art festival.

That reflex is worth paying attention to. A few years ago, most residents had no idea their drive to work was being logged by a camera network feeding plate data into a nationwide database. Now a company has to issue a public clarification because its product name sounds too close to a surveillance vendor's. That's a sign the public is waking up to how pervasive ALPR systems have become, and it's a healthy kind of suspicion. The burden should be on these systems to prove they're not overreaching, not on the public to assume the best.

If this story made you wonder whether there's an actual Flock Safety camera near you, there probably is — check our camera map to find out, and if you want to push back on how your local department uses this data, our take-action page has concrete steps.