An Electronic Frontier Foundation review of Flock Safety's license plate reader logs found police officers across the U.S. entering flippant or nonsensical justifications—like 'LMAO', 'LOL', 'idk' and random keystrokes—for searches spanning thousands of cameras. One Lake County, Indiana officer searched over 19,000 cameras across 1,558 cities with the stated reason 'LMAO', while more than 6,300 searches from over 30 agencies simply listed 'TBD'.
techtimes.co.uk
· 2026-09-15
Public records reveal that law enforcement officers across multiple agencies searched Flock Safety's nationwide license-plate camera network using vague or joke-like reasons such as 'LMAO,' 'IDK,' 'hehe,' and 'asdfg' instead of legitimate case justifications. Flock's system requires officers to enter a reason before running a search, but the logs show many entries that appear to be careless or unauthorized lookups rather than tied to actual investigations.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-15
Cindy Cohn and Bruce Schneier trace how post-9/11 mass surveillance infrastructure, originally justified for counterterrorism, has expanded into routine domestic policing, immigration enforcement by ICE, and private security systems like facial recognition and license plate readers. They highlight that government agencies increasingly rely on private companies' data—including purchasing information directly from data brokers, as confirmed by FBI Director Kash Patel—rather than going through traditional legal channels.
lawfaremedia.org
· 2026-09-15
An EFF essay co-authored with Cindy Cohn argues that surveillance tools built after Sept. 11 for counterterrorism have expanded far beyond that purpose, now used routinely by agencies like ICE and local police, and increasingly fused with private systems such as facial recognition and license-plate readers. It highlights that most of this data actually originates with private companies, including data brokers, which sell information to agencies like the FBI.
schneier.com
· 2026-09-15
Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Michael Cloud are introducing the No FLOCK Act, which would withhold 10 percent of federal highway funding from states that don't restrict automated license-plate readers like Flock to five approved uses, including finding stolen vehicles or missing persons. The bill follows growing backlash over police misuse of the cameras but does not ban the systems outright or block sharing plate data with agencies such as immigration enforcement.
wired.com
· 2026-09-15
President Trump has publicly backed automated license plate reader systems made by Flock Safety, aligning himself with the surveillance technology as the midterm elections near. His support also extends to data center expansion and policies aimed at accelerating AI development without regulatory slowdown.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-14
Local governments nationwide, from Florida to Washington state, are terminating contracts with Flock Safety amid public backlash over its AI-powered license plate readers. However, ending these agreements doesn't guarantee immediate camera removal or deletion of previously collected data, since contract terms vary widely on data retention after termination.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-14
An InvestigateTV reporter, Brendan Keefe, filmed a Flock Safety technician installing surveillance cameras on a public road while wearing press identification and a safety vest. The technician packed up and left, then called 911 claiming to be harassed and followed, prompting three police cars to stop Keefe's vehicle for about 17 minutes before releasing him without charges. InvestigateTV notes this was not the first time a Flock employee has called police over being filmed while installing cameras this summer.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-13
Albany County Sheriff's Office senior investigator Laurie Moore was arrested and charged with official misconduct and falsifying business records after allegedly running more than 4,000 unauthorized searches on five people's license plates using Flock Safety's automatic license plate reader system over two years. One target, her ex-girlfriend, was reportedly searched roughly 3,000 times, while four other plates were queried hundreds of times each. A second, unnamed employee has been placed on leave pending an internal investigation.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-13
A new Grand Theft Auto 5 mod called Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader, created by Morry Kolman, adds 235 fictional Flock-style cameras to Los Santos that track players' movements and report crimes to in-game police. Players can destroy the cameras using weapons like rocket launchers, earning $600 per camera based on the estimated cost of a real Flock camera's components, and can even race against a timer to beat their best destruction time.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-11
A costumed appearance by a Doctor Doom impersonator at a Seattle event highlighted support for the city's camera surveillance systems. The moment drew attention to the fact that Flock Safety is far from the only company supplying automated license-plate readers and camera networks to police departments and neighborhoods.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-10
Artist Morry Kolman released a Grand Theft Auto V mod called Grand Theft Automated License Plate Reader, which scatters 235 replica Flock Safety cameras across Los Santos and rewards players $600 for each one they destroy. The mod also mimics real-world surveillance behavior, extending police chase cooldowns near cameras and occasionally triggering false police responses to mirror reported ALPR errors.
wired.com
· 2026-09-09
GoKawiil