Flock Safety's ALPR Network Used to Surveil Protesters and Track Activists
The Electronic Frontier Foundation documented Flock Safety's automated license plate reader (ALPR) network being used by over 80 law enforcement agencies to conduct mass surveillance of protesters, activists, and Romani people, with patterns showing hundreds of searches related to political demonstrations and discriminatory targeting.
What happened
Throughout 2025, the Electronic Frontier Foundation investigated Flock Safety's automated license plate reader network and found it was used by law enforcement agencies to surveil protesters. Datasets representing more than 12 million searches logged by more than 3,900 agencies between December 2024 and October 2025 showed hundreds of searches related to political demonstrations including the 50501 protests in February, Hands Off protests in April, and No Kings protests in June and October.
Nineteen agencies conducted dozens of searches specifically tied to No Kings protests, sometimes with explicit references to protest activity and other times using vague terminology to obscure surveillance. Three agencies used the system to target activists from Direct Action Everywhere, an animal-rights organization, with Delaware State Police conducting nine queries in March 2025 related to their actions.
Reported impact
EFF's investigation revealed that Flock's surveillance infrastructure allowed law enforcement to track protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, target Romani people with discriminatory searches, and surveil women seeking reproductive healthcare.
The patterns showed more than 80 law enforcement agencies used language perpetuating harmful stereotypes in their searches.
Index analysis
The investigation found that Flock's system was designed to enable mass surveillance and was susceptible to grave abuses, with patterns unmistakable in the search data showing how ALPR surveillance targets groups engaged in activism challenging powerful industries.
Governance controls
EFF's research sparked state and federal investigations and drove landmark litigation into the company's practices.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.