GoKawiilFlock files trademark complaint against researcher's Flock Surveillance Map site
Security researcher Joshua Michael found a flaw in Flock's website that exposed an access token without login credentials, letting him query ArcGIS and pull a database of camera locations in November 2025. He used that data to build the Flock Surveillance Map, listing 335,701 camera locations, and Flock has now filed a trademark infringement complaint seeking to take the site down.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The dispute highlights tension between vulnerability disclosure norms and a company's reputation management, since Flock reportedly went months without substantively responding to the researcher's initial report. Using trademark law rather than addressing the underlying security issue could set a precedent for how surveillance firms respond to unwelcome transparency about their networks, according to Michael's account to The Intercept.
- A researcher exploited a Flock website flaw to extract camera location data without needing credentials.
- Flock allegedly ignored multiple disclosure emails before offering a vague acknowledgment, and later fixed the flaw in January.
- Flock is now pursuing a trademark complaint against the researcher's public camera-mapping site rather than addressing the breach directly.
Source: tomshardware.com — Jowi Morales, 2026-09-27
Published there as: “Flock seeks to have security researchers' map of Flock cameras taken down”
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