Since 2025, security camera company Flock Safety has been undergoing a surveillance rebellion against the citizens of the United States. The nation is growing more conscious of the company’s manipulation of the public’s trust in safety watch. The complaints have grown valid against the neighborhood watch company due to multiple incidents of privacy violations and the collection of personal data without consent.
Protesters are now fighting against Flock for selling sensitive information from their Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Other issues have also been connected to their surveillance services, and US citizens are taking matters into their own hands to say, “Enough is enough.”
Using ALPRs to Justify No-Warrant Searches
The American Civil Liberties Union has alerted the US that Flock is assisting law enforcement in tracking US citizens and immigrants with their car locations. The ALPR system scans the license plate number on passing cars. Their in-house AI algorithm will then recreate a virtual model that is catalogued and sent to a nationwide database.
According to Flock’s ALPR policy, the surveillance cameras have a 7-day retention period by default to maintain an individual’s vehicle information. It can be extended to 30 days in case of suspected criminal activity. However, the issue lies in two settings.
Evidence Mode grants the system permission to store vehicle data for active investigations to locate. Then, there’s enabling Offense Filtering sharing. Cars will be selected for offenses without the individual’s knowledge and are shared with law enforcement across the United States.
And for nearly six years, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has tracked the correspondence with the ALPR system. Multiple occurrences have been found to be connected to officers either not properly conducting a 2nd background check on the individual’s vehicle or abusing the system for personal gain. They quickly act by making unwarranted arrests to justify the surveillance system.
How ICE and CBP Abuse Flock
When ICE was founded and CBP was reformed, the safety of immigrants and US citizens escalated tensions. Flock offered their surveillance systems to assist US homeland security. The National Policing Institute explained that ALPRs have a thin margin of reliability, for they rarely reduce crime rates and lack conclusive research on their effectiveness.
Instead, camera providers utilize their government connections to support and advertise surveillance systems. In a 2023 survey, Flock was reported to use FBI data to claim that it assisted in solving 10% of reported crimes and combined that number with their customer base.
US whistleblowers continued to warn the public about the lengths ICE and co-conspirators went to abuse the permissions for their personal agenda throughout 2025. Cameras stalked protesters against the Trump administration, allowing biased policing and discrimination, even violating reproductive rights for women. So why aren’t regulations stopping corrupt law enforcement?
Legal experts identified that Flock and its competitors found a loophole in the Fourth Amendment. This law acts as a safeguard against those who are imposing unauthorized searches, surveillance, and seizures. Tangible property and people are protected under the constitutional right. However, the adversaries argued that public spaces should not be subject to the Fourth Amendment to ensure the safety of US neighborhoods and cities.
ALPR systems do get a pass for the claims of lowering criminal activity. But when mixed with improper judgment, Americans asked themselves if they are truly safe. State officials also show confusion when it comes to the operations manual. Virginia Police Chief Don Butler tried to communicate with Flock Vice President Chris Colwell after the College of William & Mary was concerned about their data being collected by Flock’s surveillance.
Colwell, unfortunately, did not offer a clear answer. He addressed the situation awkwardly. “Has Flock been ‘breached,’ and why do I keep hearing it had? No. The recent concerns agencies are hearing are not the result of a successful hack or compromise of Flock’s platform or cloud environment.” The response does confirm suspicions about the ALPR system.
The US Expressed Its Frustration & Changes Are Coming
After enduring law enforcement harassment and the horrors of immigration crackdowns, protestors across the US are actively rebelling to send their message. ABC has reported that more than 50 cities in both red and blue states are taking any means possible, even resorting to vandalism.
Florida and Texas so far are the most vocal states and are demonstrating that their efforts are working. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued an order to pull all of Flock and its competitors’ ALPR cameras off of their state roads on Aug. 31st. “If you want to get in your car and you want to go down to Buc-ee’s in St. Augustine, it’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that, right?” he commented on Fox Business.
And three days earlier, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, despite previously appointing the 3,200 Flock cameras, also issued a statewide order. He demanded that all state agencies halt funding for the invasive watchdog. The Texas governor made the announcement just in time before local news outlet The Texas Tribune could publish an investigation into a state agency investing $30 million to build the surveillance network.
Some states are susceptible to the ongoing protests against Flock and are considering reaching out to other surveillance companies that can reassure citizens about their privacy. Denver City Council has approved switching from Flock to its competitor, Axon. According to Military.com, the council negotiated for shorter retention time, and Axon’s ALPR system does not link to a national database. The decision was passed with a 7-6 vote back in March.
If you’d like to keep track of the ongoing surveillance protests, check out Fight For Our Future’s Flock Out campaign.
