what is flock?
Flock Safety is a company that sells surveillance camera technology and associated AI systems to law enforcement and private entities.
Flock ALPR cameras are being used for indiscriminate surveillance, tracking, and targeting of countless individuals. While Flock, law enforcement, and city government tout the benefits of automated license plate readers for public safety, in reality it endangers everyone - in particular immigrants and their families, people of color, people seeking sensitive healthcare, and the many exercising civil liberties like free speech.
Flock cameras and technology…
Infringe on our right to privacy and give police too much power to surveil us
Have been used by ICE and DHS to track and deport immigration targets
Do not have data protections in place appropriate for the information being gathered
Value mass surveillance over data safety - Flock has said they are a mass surveillance company first with data as their priority, not security
Flock’s indiscriminate surveillance is in conflict with constitutional protections and numerous civil liberties groups such as the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation argue that the technology infringes on Americans’ right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment.
Despite repeated attempts from Flock to reform their system, it is apparent that ALPR is problematic, insecure, and can have devastating consequences for innocent individuals. Academics, researchers, and experts overwhelmingly agree that there’s a lack of evidence linking Flock to crime reduction rates. Law enforcement says Flock is a “useful tool”- yes, it’s useful in keeping residents afraid of leaving their homes and opening the city up to expensive future litigation.
What others are saying about flock
Flock is under heavy scrutiny. Learn more about the controversy about the use of ALPR and dig into the data
common concerns
Flock’s data protections are hugely lacking and have been for years.
The cameras themselves have zero security - they run on Android and can have any applications loaded onto them.
Investigators were able to use links found online to watch themselves livestreamed to the internet via Flock cameras.
ALPRs are not always accurate.
The technology still relies on an AI system that is proven to make mistakes.
People, including children, have been held at gunpoint, detained, or arrested because a camera misread an image, a plate, or flagged the wrong car.
Flock technologies are not limited to license plates.
While the cameras are currently labeled as ALPRs, the patent for the technology states it can identify subjects down to details including race, gender, height, weight, and clothing.
There is a history of misuse of Flock technology.
Cops have been arrested for using Flock to stalk people.
San Francisco police allowed out-of-state police to run more than 1.6 million illegal searches of the city’s Flock database.
If there is a Flock security breach, instance of technology misuse, or mistake in identification, the city is often named in the suit and has been the one that has had to pay out to residents.
FAQs
doesn’t flock alpr help solve crimes?
1
The ends don’t justify the means. Flock ALPR is warrantless mass surveillance that tracks the movements of cars and people - even if not involved in any crime.
Burbank (as with most American cities) currently has historcally low crime rates.
While the Police Chief claims that ALPR have helped curb crime in Burbank, the Burbank Police Department has not updated the publicly available crime statistics since November 2025.
aren’t there laws to regulate the use of alpr?
2
Yes, the state of California passed ALPR regulation, however, law enforcement agencies across the state have been violating state law for years.