GoKawiilEFF finds police entering joke justifications for Flock camera searches
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.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Flock's cameras operate as a warrantless, centralized surveillance system, meaning the 'reason' field is often the only check on how officers use it. These flippant entries show that the honor-system logging meant to prevent abuse is failing, raising concerns about stalking, unauthorized tracking, and lack of real oversight over a rapidly expanding nationwide camera network.
- EFF found many officers submitting nonsensical or joke justifications for Flock camera searches.
- Flock's system requires no warrant, relying on self-reported reasons for accountability.
- Police departments contacted by EFF largely failed to explain or address the frivolous search logs.
Source: futurism.com — Frank Landymore, 2026-09-18
Published there as: “Cops Are Giving Complete Nonsense Reasons to Search Thousands of Flock Cameras”
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