Flock Safety has more than 120,000 cameras set up on roads across the US that scan license plates billions of times every month. Local law-enforcement agencies say they rely on ALPRs to solve crimes. Officers can search this data, even outside their state, to help find stolen vehicles and missing people.

Privacy advocates say Flock has created a dragnet, as these queries don’t require a warrant, and the cameras routinely capture details about cars driven by people who are not suspected of crimes. They also worry about police officers who 

, as well as ways this data ends up in the hands of 

What happens after a town de-Flocks - the verge

>Flock Safety has more than 120,000 cameras set up on roads across the US that scan license plates billions of times every month. Local law-enforcement agencies say they rely on ALPRs to solve crimes. Officers can search this data, even outside their state, to help find stolen vehicles and missing people.

>Privacy advocates say Flock has created a dragnet, as these queries don’t require a warrant, and the cameras routinely capture details about cars driven by people who are not suspected of crimes. They also worry about police officers who [used the tech](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/02/flock-police-surveillance-tech-birds-iran-press-freedom) to try to [stalk their romantic interests](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/), as well as ways this data ends up in the hands of [federal immigration enforcement](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/).

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/20/flock-cameras-surveillance