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.
33 articles · page 2 of 2 · RSS
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Flock Safety overhauls rules following ANF investigations
atlantanewsfirst.com
Flock Safety announced it is cutting its default license plate data retention recommendation from 30 days to seven, adding an "evidence mode" cold storage option for active investigations. The company will require its machine learning audit tool, proactive account lockouts for abnormal search behavior, mandatory case codes, and multi-factor authentication. The changes follow reporting on more than a dozen officers disciplined or arrested for personal misuse, including stalking partners.
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Despite 'New' Updates, Flock's Creepy Cameras Remain Major Civil Liberties Threat
aclu.org
The ACLU assesses Flock Safety's announced operational changes, including a reduction in default data retention from 30 days to seven days with an "Evidence Mode" exception, local control over which offenses other agencies may search for, mandatory search reasons, and wider rollout of an audit tool. It argues most measures repeat earlier interventions that officers circumvented and that the audit tool has never been independently evaluated.
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Flock sees controversial camera contracts canceled in 23 states
washingtonexaminer.com
Roughly 23 city councils have voted to cancel, reject, or deactivate Flock Safety license plate readers since January 2026, with about 98 doing so since 2021, according to the activist group Deflock. Harrisonburg and Elkton, Virginia, Framingham, Massachusetts, and Saranac Lake, New York, are among them, citing Fourth Amendment and data-sharing concerns. Flock says agencies own their data and set retention schedules.
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License Plate Reader Policy (Flock Safety)
flocksafety.com
The vendor's own published policy, included here as a primary source. It states that customers own the data their cameras collect, that records are hard-deleted on a rolling 30-day basis by default but adjustable by customer request, that customers decide whom to share with, and that Flock uses under one percent of images for machine learning.
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Sonoma Extends Flock License Plate Camera Contract Through 2028
ksro.com
The Sonoma City Council unanimously approved a three-year, $150,000 extension of its Flock Safety license plate reader contract. Police Chief Brandon Cutting cited a 100% solution rate in recent vehicle-involved crimes, and the city maintains a 30-day deletion policy and a ban on sharing data with federal immigration agencies. Sonoma operates 16 cameras and officials are discussing expanding coverage to all major routes into town.
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Sonoma City Council extends Flock contract for automated license plate readers
sonomanews.com
Sonoma's city council voted unanimously on 30 March 2026 to extend its Flock Safety contract three years through September 2028 at up to $50,500 annually, covering 16 cameras. Police Chief Brandon Cutting cited a September 2025 home invasion solved with the system and said data deletes after 30 days. The council separately approved $224,000 for Verkada cameras at city facilities.
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City Council expected to renew Flock Safety contract for automatic license plate readers
sonomanews.com
The Sonoma City Council was set to vote March 30 on a three-year, $50,000-per-year renewal with Flock Safety extending use of 16 fixed license plate cameras through September 2028. The proposed contract sets 30-day retention, limits access to three certified administrators tied to documented cases, and bars sharing with federal or out-of-state agencies under SB 34. Local group Wake Up Sonoma has urged a city ordinance codifying privacy rules and public disclosure of camera locations and audits.
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Cameras in Sonoma Are Watching You
sonomasun.com
A detailed account of the 16 ALPR cameras installed around the City of Sonoma's perimeter in 2023 for roughly $50,000. The cameras record plate numbers, vehicle color and type, and whether a plate is present. Police Chief Brandon Cutting, one of three certified administrators, says federal agencies cannot reach the data and that outside requests require administrator approval and are logged.
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A federal judge ruled Norfolk's Flock surveillance cameras don't invade people's privacy – yet
whro.org
Judge Mark Davis granted summary judgment to Norfolk on 27 January 2026, holding that the city's 176 Flock cameras and 21-day retention window do not amount to an unconstitutional search. He warned the analysis could change as systems expand, writing that in Norfolk "the answer is: not today." The plaintiffs, represented by the Institute for Justice, plan to appeal.
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Public safety must-have or threat to civil liberties? Debate over Flock license plate reader cameras has taken hold in North Bay
pressdemocrat.com
The Press Democrat surveys Flock deployments across the North Bay and finds Santa Rosa running the largest network in the region: 129 cameras with four more awaiting installation, under two contracts worth $421,650 and $897,999 in state and federal money, on a 30-day retention window. Healdsburg and Rohnert Park operate 26 and 23 cameras respectively.
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What the Flock is happening with license plate readers?
malwarebytes.com
An overview of how the Flock network reached well over 100,000 cameras across more than 4,000 cities, roughly one camera per 4,000 people. It explains the default 30-day retention window, how flagged records escape it, and the volunteer projects that have grown up to map deployments, including DeFlock and Have I Been Flocked.
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Sen. Josh Hawley introduces bill aimed at stopping abuse of Flock cameras and similar AI technology
cbsnews.com
Sen. Josh Hawley is introducing the STOP Flock Abuse Act, which would bar local governments from selling or sharing vehicle data, require deletion of driver data within 10 days absent a criminal investigation, ban facial recognition on these networks, and mandate written approval and audit logs for searches. The bill follows a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that Flock, Axon, Motorola and Verkada declined to attend.
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Flock Is Canceled—And Its Competitors Are Profiting
motherjones.com
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the revocation of all law enforcement license-plate-recognition permits on state highways, and Texas ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras. Secure Justice counted 90 of 214 total municipal Flock cancellations in August 2026 alone. Advocates warn that targeting one vendor leaves competitors such as Motorola, Rekor, and Axon to fill the gap, with Rekor calling for national rules including warrants for some plate searches.