Illinois college could not end its Flock contract, so it covered the cameras with trash bags

Elgin Community College in Illinois spent months unable to get the company Flock to take down the safety cameras installed on its grounds. The cameras came down only in April 2026, when the contract expired.

How it began

In April 2025, six Flock cameras were installed at the college to enhance student safety. By September, school administrators had grown worried that Flock was sharing data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that camera feeds were not properly secured, and that both law enforcement and company employees were abusing access to the data.

Refusal and silence

In October, the college asked for the cameras to be removed. According to college president Peggy Heinrich, Flock rejected the request, saying it had not violated the contract. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that officials tried again in December, offering to pay for the remaining five months of the contract while still asking for removal. They received no response.

Covering and uncovering

Heinrich said college staff began covering the cameras with black trash bags and zip ties so they could not record footage. But workers in an unmarked vehicle, which Heinrich assumed belonged to Flock, repeatedly took the coverings off. "We were kind of in a back and forth for a bit where we'd cover, and then when they'd come to service, they'd remove," she said.

This went on until April of this year, when the college's contract ran out and Flock removed the cameras.