Flock announces changes amid backlash over its license plate reader network

Key Points:

• Flock Safety, a surveillance tech company operating a nationwide license plate reader network, announced platform changes to address privacy concerns and documented law enforcement abuses, including mandatory audit tools to flag abnormal searches and shortening data retention from 30 to 7 days.
• New policies require law enforcement to link searches to specific case numbers and allow customers to restrict outside agency searches by offense type, aiming to give local agencies more control and prevent unauthorized uses such as immigration enforcement.
• Critics, including civil liberties groups and legal experts, remain skeptical, calling the changes insufficient and emphasizing the need for judicial oversight rather than police-controlled searches to prevent abuse and warrantless mass surveillance.
• The controversy has led over 50 agencies to cancel or suspend contracts with Flock, with some cameras vandalized, while lawmakers have introduced bills to restrict such technology amid growing public backlash over privacy and misuse.
• Despite the criticism, law enforcement highlights the technology’s role in solving crimes and locating missing persons, underscoring the ongoing tension between effective policing and protecting community privacy rights.