404 Media is asking residents nationwide to submit public records showing how local police departments use Axon's automatic license plate reader cameras, which many cities are adopting after backlash over Flock's role in ICE lookups and a Texas officer's search related to a self-managed abortion. The outlet has already gathered Axon 'activity reports' from six police agencies detailing which officers searched plate data, their badge numbers, and stated justifications, but wants more submissions to map usage nationwide.
Flock Safety, the maker of AI-powered license plate scanning cameras, has begun offering employees a voluntary severance package as public backlash against its surveillance technology intensifies. The program, which started taking applications Friday, includes months of health coverage and extended stock option windows, with decisions expected by October 9 and departures by October 29.
Flock Safety introduced a voluntary severance program on Friday, described internally as the most generous package it has offered, aiming to shrink its roughly 1,500-person workforce. Wired reports the company anticipates strong interest and plans to approve buyouts for most who apply, likely averting the need for outright layoffs.
Flock Safety launched a voluntary severance program on Friday, giving employees until October 2 to decide whether to leave with a package the company called generous. Insiders expect a large share of its roughly 1,500 workers to apply, as the surveillance firm faces mounting customer losses and public criticism over its network of license plate cameras.
Senator Josh Hawley is calling on Flock Safety's chief executive to testify before the Senate next week over the company's automated license plate reading network. Hawley argues that the surveillance technology, deployed widely across the country, threatens Americans' basic privacy expectations during everyday activities like commuting or attending church.
An Electronic Frontier Foundation investigation found numerous police officers logging nonsensical or joke reasons—like 'LMAO,' 'LOL,' or keyboard-mashed text—when justifying searches through Flock's nationwide license plate camera network. One Indiana officer wrote 'LMAO' before searching over 19,000 cameras across 1,500-plus cities, while an Oklahoma officer typed gibberish to access more than 83,000 cameras. When EFF followed up with departments about these entries, few offered meaningful accountability.
A hacker collective called stegan0gram physically removed a Flock Safety roadside camera, extracted its stored data, and recovered an on-device encryption key meant to protect it. They shared the material with 404 Media and Distributed Denial of Secrets, which passed it to WIRED for joint analysis showing the camera logged roughly 50,200 vehicles and 1.6 million images over about 21 days.
A group called stegan0gram removed a Flock roadside camera and dissected its Android storage, finding an encryption key inside the 'media' partition that unlocked another partition holding all recorded files. That data included about 1.6 million images and 27,321 short video clips gathered over 21 days, capturing roughly 50,200 vehicles and 11 people.
Hackers physically removed a Flock Safety license plate reader from a roadway, extracted an encryption key from its storage, and shared the recovered files with 404 Media and WIRED. The data showed the device's software identifies not just vehicles and plates but also people, bicycles, and even small details like bumper stickers, generating over a million images in just weeks of logs.
A hacker group calling itself stegan0gram physically removed a Flock license-plate-reading camera from a roadway pole, reverse-engineered its solar-powered hardware, and copied its storage. Inside, they found unencrypted partitions containing an encryption key that unlocked a trove of 27,321 short video clips and roughly 1.6 million images capturing over 50,200 vehicles across a 21-day logging period. The findings, examined jointly by 404 Media and Wired, showed the device also occasionally detected people on motorcycles, though no active facial recognition was found.
WIRED found that Flock, whose license plate readers are used by police nationwide, has quietly stopped specifying where its cameras are manufactured in recent marketing materials, despite years of touting domestic production. A US manufacturer that once listed Flock as a client removed the reference from its website amid growing public backlash against the company's surveillance technology.
Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Michael Cloud introduced the No FLOCK Act, which would cut 10 percent of a state's federal highway funding unless it restricts automated license plate readers like Flock to five specific uses, such as tracking stolen vehicles or felony suspects. The bill excludes broader applications like traffic studies or minor drug enforcement, but does not ban the technology outright or restrict sharing plate data with agencies including immigration enforcement.
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