Articles
What the Flock?
An index of reporting, court records, and public filings showing what happens beyond Flock's public-safety claims. These are the documented problems, mistakes, and abuses that can be easy to miss when the story comes only from the vendor or the agencies using the cameras.
5 articles · RSS
-
Sen. Wyden presses Flock CEO over allegations of surveillance platform abuse
ktvz.com
Senators Ron Wyden and Adam Schiff sent a letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley demanding answers about unauthorized use of the company's license plate reader network, including tracking of reproductive health travel and warrantless immigration searches. The letter cites a Washington Post analysis finding at least 50 officers charged or accused of misusing the system, and instructs Flock to preserve records.
-
Leaving the Door Wide Open: Flock Surveillance Systems Expose Washington Data to Immigration Enforcement
jsis.washington.edu
Records obtained from 31 Washington law enforcement agencies show at least eight enabled direct data sharing of their Flock networks with U.S. Border Patrol during 2025, while audits indicate Border Patrol also had apparent access to networks of at least ten departments that never authorized it. Researchers documented searches run on behalf of ICE, out-of-state searches including a Texas abortion investigation, and discrepancies that obscure the true scope of sharing.
-
Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was for a Missing Person. It Was an Abortion Investigation.
eff.org
Records obtained by EFF show Johnson County, Texas deputies opened a "death investigation" of a "non-viable fetus" after a woman's self-managed abortion, collected evidence of it, and asked prosecutors about charging her. A sergeant ran two Flock ALPR searches logged as "had an abortion, search for female," spanning up to 83,345 cameras nationwide, contradicting the sheriff's and Flock's claims it was a welfare check.
-
Flock Safety's Feature Updates Cannot Make Automated License Plate Readers Safe
eff.org
A Texas sheriff's office searched more than 83,000 Flock cameras to locate a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion, and records showed over 4,000 immigration-related lookups by state and local police with no formal ICE agreement in place. EFF argues that search-term blocking, case-number requirements, and audit alerts are easily defeated by vague or reused justifications.
-
VICTORY! California Department of Justice Declares Out-of-State Sharing of License Plate Data Unlawful
eff.org
Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance confirming that SB 34 bars California police from sharing license plate data with out-of-state or federal agencies. EFF notes agencies had been sharing with hundreds of out-of-state agencies, including in states restricting abortion, and with CBP and ICE, and that over 99.9% of collected data connects to no crime.