Flock surveillance network faces privacy backlash and equipment destruction campaign in US
Flock's automatic license plate recognition network, deployed across the US, faces a major privacy backlash after reports documented police misuse including unauthorized tracking of romantic partners, women who obtained abortions, and undocumented immigrants. A grassroots movement opposing the surveillance has grown to hundreds of thousands of supporters and spawned a campaign to physically destroy the cameras.
What happened
Flock, a surveillance startup, has installed over 100,000 automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras across the United States. These cameras capture static vehicle images including license plate data, manufacturer, model, color, and bumper stickers, with data retained for up to one month and shareable across state lines.
The Washington Post investigation documented at least 50 police officers accused of misusing the Flock system, with most using it to surveil romantic partners or ex-partners. Other reported cases include police using Flock to track women who had obtained abortions and unauthorized sharing of system data with immigration enforcement.
Reported impact
A grassroots privacy movement opposing Flock has grown significantly, with a Facebook group called 'DeFlock America' accumulating over 600,000 members and gaining thousands more daily. Supporters have created crowdsourced camera maps, shared methods to disable cameras, and praised those arrested for destroying equipment as heroes.
A 20-year-old activist known as Nomark has destroyed approximately 30 Flock cameras in the Minneapolis area and uses Instagram, where he has 500,000 followers, to teach others how to disable the surveillance devices. Flock CEO Garrett Langley responded by calling some opponents 'terrorists.'
Index analysis
Opponents of Flock argue the system enables police to track vehicles without search warrants, creating potential for rights violations. The ACLU stated that opposition to Flock demonstrates 'tremendous grassroots power' and the movement is expanding at a 'shocking' rate.
Governance controls
Flock cameras are installed by police departments, community management associations, and businesses, with data uploaded to Flock's cloud servers and shared with paying subscribers. No specific governance controls or oversight mechanisms were described in the reports.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.