GoKawiilFlock Safety refuses to remove cameras after Elgin Community College cancels contract
Elgin Community College installed six Flock Safety surveillance cameras in April 2025, but asked the company to remove them in October after learning Flock had shared Illinois camera data with federal immigration authorities and after ICE detained a student on campus. Flock rejected the removal request, and when the college offered in December to pay out the remaining five months of the contract just to have the cameras taken down, the company did not respond.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The dispute shows how surveillance vendors that retain ownership of installed hardware can limit a customer's ability to simply opt out once privacy concerns arise. Surveillance experts cited in the report suggest Flock has a financial incentive to keep as many cameras active as possible, since a denser network makes its product more attractive to other potential clients. The case could fuel broader scrutiny of how campus and municipal security contracts handle data-sharing with agencies like ICE and CBP.
- Elgin Community College sought camera removal after data sharing with CBP and an ICE detention of a student on campus.
- Flock Safety retains ownership of its hardware, complicating customers' ability to cancel service and remove equipment.
- The college offered to pay out the remaining contract term just to get cameras removed, but Flock did not respond.
Source: news.slashdot.org — Posted, 2026-10-11
Published there as: “A College Told Flock to Remove Its Cameras. The Company Refused.”
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