Backlash grows against Flock's license plate surveillance network
Flock, the company behind over 120,000 automatic license plate reader cameras across the US, faces mounting criticism over misuse and security lapses, prompting promised reforms. Several cities have already dropped contracts or disabled the cameras.
A nationwide network of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras run by the company Flock is drawing growing criticism from communities and officials across the US. More than 120,000 Flock cameras use AI to track vehicles by license plate, make, model and color, effectively building a picture of people's movements across the country.
Several communities, including Los Angeles, have canceled contracts with Flock or turned off its cameras, demanding stricter limits on data collection and access. Amazon-owned Ring also canceled a planned integration with Flock earlier this year following public backlash, though the companies note the integration never actually launched, so no customer video was shared.
Reports of misuse
Investigations have documented more than a dozen cases of police officers using Flock's system to stalk former partners or other individuals for personal reasons. Flock has acknowledged 15 such incidents, though some victims say they only learned of the tracking through an independent website the company has tried to get taken down.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley has admitted the company got things wrong and pledged new safeguards, including mandatory monitoring for suspicious searches and a requirement that users enter a case code before running any query.
Other incidents
The Los Angeles Police Department has temporarily suspended use of Flock's system following unspecified concerns. In Tennessee, a congressional candidate has been charged with vandalism for allegedly shooting several Flock cameras. In Minnesota, the system mistakenly flagged a vehicle as stolen, leading to a potentially dangerous police response. It has also emerged that live feeds from dozens of cameras were left openly accessible online without a password, and that some license plate data was reviewed by contractors in the Philippines.
