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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.
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 group of hackers physically removed a Flock Safety license-plate camera, copied its internal storage, and recovered an encryption key that unlocked thousands of stored vehicle images. They shared the extracted files with 404 Media and WIRED, and separately with the transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, along with details of how they pulled off the extraction so others could replicate it.
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.
As communities destroy Flock's automatic license plate readers over privacy concerns, some police departments switching to Axon are worried its similar-looking cameras will become the next target. In a leaked webinar, Axon CEO Rick Smith confirmed the company is exploring shape changes to its ALPRs after customer requests, alongside plans to mount cameras on streetlights and add explanatory signage.
Anti-surveillance group Secure Justice reports that 214 cities and counties have dropped Flock Safety's license-plate camera contracts since 2021, with 90 cancellations in August alone—a fourfold jump from July. Communities from Lansing, Michigan to Pflugerville, Texas cited cost, data-sharing practices, network reach, and cases of police misuse as reasons for ending their deals. Flock says new city partnerships still outnumber cancellations roughly 10 to 1 this year.
A YouGov poll of 20,000 Americans shared with The Washington Post found 46% oppose license plate reader surveillance in their communities, versus 38% in favor, flipping last year's majority support. Flock, which operates over 120,000 such cameras nationwide, has faced backlash after reports of police misuse, prompting several communities to drop or reject contracts.
Public records show that Alpharetta, a small Atlanta suburb with about 120 officers, has built a license-plate surveillance network through Flock Safety cameras that now exchanges data with over 2,000 outside organizations, including colleges, airports, fraud investigators and federal inspectors. In exchange, Alpharetta receives data from more than 1,300 other entities, some of which have already faced scandals over misuse of the same technology. The network has grown sharply in the past year, with outgoing data-sharing partners up 42 percent and incoming partners up 125 percent since June 2025.
The Albany Police Department in Georgia posted surveillance footage on Facebook asking the public to identify a man who picked up $30 he found on the floor of a Walmart without turning it in to employees. The post, shared August 18, drew thousands of mocking comments from people questioning why police were devoting resources to such a minor incident.
Police in Oviedo, Florida arrested 24-year-old Evan Meyer and charged him with three felonies after he destroyed what he believed was a real Flock surveillance camera. In reality, the camera was a 3D-printed decoy set up as part of a sting operation targeting people who vandalize the AI-powered license plate readers. Mayor Megan Sladek said she was unaware of the decoy operation and acknowledged the charges are controversial, especially as the city council is weighing whether to end its Flock contract.
Garrett Langley, CEO of surveillance firm Flock Safety, has been giving media interviews urging a 'compromise' between privacy and public safety as scrutiny of his company's cameras and license plate recognition tools intensifies. The pushback follows a Washington Post investigation citing 46 cases of police officers allegedly misusing Flock's technology to track partners or exes, prompting Langley to apologize while denying his company caused the abuse.