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ALPR cameras mapped by the DeFlock community project
FLOCK Safety operates a nationwide dragnet of automated license plate readers. Over 5,000 cities have deployed them, often without public debate, without warrants, and without your consent.
Every time you drive past one, your license plate, vehicle photo, time, and location are logged into a database shared across thousands of agencies. You are not a suspect. You are not accused of anything. But you are being watched.
FLOCK Safety is a private company that has quietly built one of the largest surveillance networks in American history. Here's what you need to know.
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FLOCK cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs) — solar powered, cellular connected cameras that photograph every vehicle that passes them. They capture your license plate, vehicle make/model/color, timestamp, and GPS location.
Unlike red-light cameras or speed cameras, FLOCK cameras aren't triggered by any violation. They photograph every single car.
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FLOCK sells to police departments, private HOAs, gated communities, shopping centers, schools, churches, and businesses. There is no distinction between public law enforcement use and private surveillance, all data feeds into the same network.
Many neighborhoods have these cameras installed without a single community vote. HOA boards can sign contracts in closed meetings.
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Your plate data is stored on FLOCK's cloud servers. By default, it's retained for 30 days, but agencies can configure longer retention. FLOCK shares data across their entire customer network through a system called "FlockOS."
Police can search the database without a warrant in most jurisdictions. They can set up "hot lists" that alert them the moment your plate is scanned anywhere in the country.
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Mass surveillance chills free movement and association. Would you attend a protest, visit a therapist, go to a mosque, or see a reproductive health clinic if you knew your visit was logged and searchable?
FLOCK's network creates a digital map of everyone's daily life — where you work, who you visit, when you're home, what doctor you see. This is the infrastructure of a surveillance state.
This is the DeFlock community map. An open source project with 60,591+ user submitted license plate reader locations across the United States. Each marker represents a real camera, submitted and verified by volunteers.
⚠ Map data provided by DeFlock.org, an open-source community project. The actual number of FLOCK cameras is likely far higher , many are installed on private property without public disclosure. Submit a camera you've spotted.
Use this calculator to estimate how many times your license plate is scanned — and what that level of tracking means for your privacy.
ALPR cameras mapped by the DeFlock community project
* Daily plates estimate methodology: Conservative lower bound based on ~60,591 cameras mapped by DeFlock × ~2,500 vehicles/day per camera (average arterial road traffic per DOT data). FLOCK does not publicly disclose total cameras or daily plate reads. The actual number is likely far higher — FLOCK serves 12,000+ communities (per their own website) and 4,800+ law enforcement agencies (Reuters, March 2025), each deploying multiple cameras. DeFlock's map represents only cameras that volunteers have located and submitted — the true total is unknown because FLOCK refuses to disclose it.
This isn't just about privacy. Mass surveillance through ALPR networks creates real, documented harms.
FLOCK data can be accessed by insurance companies, repo agents, private investigators, and marketers. While FLOCK claims they don't "sell" data, they share access broadly under data sharing agreements and once data is shared, it can be resold downstream.
Your driving patterns, where you go, when you go, and how often can all be used to raise your insurance rates, repossess your vehicle, or build marketing profiles without your knowledge.
ICE has direct access to FLOCK data in many jurisdictions. This means immigration enforcement can track the movements of individuals and families without ever obtaining a warrant or showing probable cause.
The data can reveal patterns like who attends a particular church, who visits a community center, or who drops children at a specific school — enabling targeting of entire communities.
Source: ACLU — How to Pump the Brakes on Flock Mass Surveillance
There is no federal law that governs how long ALPR data can be stored, who can access it, or what it can be used for. Some states have passed restrictions, but they are inconsistent and often weak.
This means the rules can change at any time. Today's 30 day retention policy could become permanent storage tomorrow — and there is nothing legally preventing it.
ALPR systems have error rates as high as 10% in some conditions with some errors being misreading characters, confusing state plates, or flagging the wrong vehicle entirely.
These errors have led to armed police stops of innocent people, including at least one documented case where a driver was stopped at gunpoint because the system misread their plate as belonging to a stolen vehicle. When the system is wrong, you pay the price.
Source: News & Observer — Wrongful ALPR Arrest; ACLU — Flock Mass Surveillance Guide
This chilling effect is well documented in surveillance studies. Mass tracking undermines the First Amendment by making people afraid to exercise their rights to assemble, speak, and associate freely.
Source: EFF — Street Level Surveillance: ALPR Threats & Chilling Effects
FLOCK cameras are disproportionately deployed in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, often under the guise of "crime prevention." This means these communities face dramatically higher levels of surveillance.
This compounds existing inequities in policing. More surveillance leads to more encounters with law enforcement, which leads to more arrests, feeding a vicious cycle of over policing.
"If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear" is a dangerous myth. Privacy isn't about hiding wrongdoing, it's about autonomy, dignity, and freedom from being watched by those in power.
Everyone has something they'd prefer to keep private: a doctor's visit, a family conflict, a personal relationship, a political belief. Surveillance turns everyday life into a database, and databases can be weaponized by whoever gains access.
Every claim on this site is backed by publicly available reporting, academic research, and civil liberties organizations. Here are the primary sources.
You didn't consent to this. Here's what you can do about it.
Many people don't know FLOCK cameras exist in their own neighborhoods. Start conversations. Ask your HOA if they've contracted with FLOCK. Awareness is the first step.
Demand local and state level legislation regulating ALPR use, data retention, and sharing. Some states (like New Hampshire and Virginia) have already passed restrictions and yours can too.
Find Your Reps →City council and HOA meetings are where FLOCK contracts get approved. Show up. Ask hard questions. Demand transparency about camera locations, data policies, and cost.
Organizations like the EFF and ACLU are fighting mass surveillance in courts and legislatures. They need your support.