Topic
Data retention
How long records are kept, and what happens when policy says otherwise.
22 articles · page 1 of 2 · RSS
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Monroe Kills Flock Safety Contract, Shuts Down All 23 License-Plate Cameras
hoodline.com
Monroe's city council voted unanimously to end its Flock Safety contract, switching off all 23 license-plate-reading cameras. Aggregated reporting says more than 50 agencies or communities have canceled, suspended, or rejected Flock contracts since the start of 2026, and Flock now recommends seven-day data retention plus tools to flag abusive searches. Ohio has no statewide ALPR retention or audit rules.
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BREAKING: County Board votes to end Arlington’s use of Flock cameras
arlnow.com
The Arlington County Board voted to discontinue use of 41 county-leased Flock Safety devices, 26 license plate readers and 15 pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and to begin removing the equipment within 14 business days. Data not tied to active investigations will be deleted. The program, costing $106,250 plus a $93,000 annual fee, was never formally presented to the Board and drew resident-led opposition campaigns.
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Pa. lawmakers eye limits, outright ban on Flock cameras as they prepare for fall return
witf.org
Pennsylvania lawmakers from both parties have introduced at least nine bills to restrict or ban automated license plate readers, seven of them within six weeks, and both candidates for governor oppose the cameras. Proposals range from an outright ban to warrant requirements and local opt-outs. The Department of General Services is removing Flock from the COSTARS state contracting portal, while police chiefs and district attorneys oppose a blanket ban.
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Lebanon shuts off Flock cameras after company fails to reply to letter with concerns
wvxu.org
Lebanon, Ohio, council voted to immediately shut off and cover 20 Flock Safety license plate readers after the company did not answer a mayoral letter containing 54 questions about data retention and access within 21 days. Officials cited Mountain View's discovery of a changed nationwide search setting and a reported offer to sell five years of data to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A motion to terminate the contract failed 4-3.
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Flock worker calls police on ANF chief investigator filming public camera installation
walb.com
Atlanta News First reported that a Flock Safety installer called 911 after investigative reporter Brendan Keefe filmed a camera being upgraded on a public street in Milton, Georgia, leading to a 17-minute traffic stop by three police units. A separate June call brought police to YouTube creators filming outside a Flock distribution center. Flock said staff may contact police over safety concerns and barred media from its customer conference.
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Editorial: More cops are accused of misusing Flock cameras. This is becoming too much like Big Brother
timesleader.com
A Chicago Tribune editorial cites reviews in West Chicago and Itasca after officers allegedly used Flock for unauthorized purposes, and an officer accused of hundreds of searches of former partners. It notes Washington Post reporting that at least 50 officers have been charged or accused of misusing ALPRs, describes Flock's shortened seven-day default retention, and lists Illinois municipalities ending or suspending contracts.
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Florida bans Flock cameras and other license plate readers from state highways
nbcnews.com
Florida's Department of Transportation revoked all prior approvals for license plate readers in state highway rights-of-way, citing a rapid increase in deployments plus reports of misuse and data privacy concerns. The order does not cover private property or local rights-of-way, where officials say 98% of cameras sit, though the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office ended its program anyway. Flock said a ban was the wrong response and cited recent cases solved.
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The debate around Flock cameras intensifies in Sonoma County
sebastopoltimes.com
A Penngrove resident's petition demanding removal of Flock license plate cameras in Sonoma County gathered 214 signatures, citing surveillance and data-sharing concerns. A Sebastopol councilmember opposed the cameras, referencing ICE. A Sheriff's Department spokesperson said data is kept 30 days, is not linked to the DMV, involves no facial recognition, and is audited, crediting the cameras with aiding three homicide investigations in fiscal year 2025-26.
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Residents voice concerns over Flock cameras at Santa Rosa Community Advisory Board Meeting
northbayvanguard.com
At a July 22 Community Advisory Board meeting, Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan presented on Flock cameras and ALPRs, and residents alongside the North Bay Organizing Project questioned auditing of outside agency searches, data retention, and crime-prevention metrics. The department says data is kept 30 days and not shared federally. Over 730,000 plate reads were logged in 30 days, with more than 300 California agencies granted access.
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Flock camera vandals say privacy reforms aren’t enough: ‘The changes are bull----’
nbcnews.com
Flock Safety announced reforms on Aug. 13, including shorter data retention and new oversight, following a wave of activist vandalism against its nationwide network of surveillance cameras. Activists targeting the cameras say the changes do not address their concerns. The report notes that some communities have persuaded local governments to cancel Flock contracts while others renew each year.
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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.