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Flock Safety announced privacy and security reforms for its automated license plate reader network after backlash over law enforcement misuse of the platform. The company said it will reduce its standard data retention period from 30 days to seven days, require officers to enter a reason or case code for searches except in genuine emergencies, and let agencies restrict what offense categories can be shared with other municipalities. Flock also introduced Evidence Mode, which allows longer preservation of data when permitted by local policy and tied to an investigation.
The company said its Audit Assistance feature, which flags unusual search behavior for administrator review and can automatically lock out users, will become mandatory for all law enforcement customers by the end of the year. The changes follow reports that officers used Flock systems to stalk romantic partners and other individuals, including a Georgia case involving former sheriff’s deputies, while privacy advocates and researchers have questioned the tool’s transparency and whether independent auditing is needed. Flock defended the changes by saying most searches occur within a week and that its cameras were used in about 1 million investigations last year, including cases that helped locate roughly 10,000 missing people.
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On August 13, Flock Safety announced a broad set of privacy and security changes for its automated license plate reader network amid backlash and reports of misuse. The reforms included reducing standard retention from 30 days to seven days, introducing Evidence Mode for longer case-based preservation, requiring a reason or case code for searches, expanding offense-based sharing controls, and making abnormal-search detection standard for law enforcement customers.
Flock launched its Audit Assistance feature, a tool designed to flag atypical search behavior by law enforcement users for administrator review. The company later said the tool could also automatically lock out flagged users pending review.
Flock Safety introduced an optional requirement for law enforcement users to enter a case code when conducting searches. The later 2026 reforms made this requirement mandatory except in genuine emergencies.
Three former Georgia sheriff’s deputies were arrested earlier that week and accused of using Flock cameras to stalk people with whom they had personal relationships. The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said Flock’s Audit Assistance tool helped uncover the alleged misuse.
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Flock Safety announced changes to its automated license plate reader platform after sustained criticism over police misuse of its system, including allegations of stalking and improper searches. The company said it will recommend a **7-day default retention period** instead of 30 days, add offense-based sharing filters, require search-reason logging and Audit Assistance for law-enforcement customers, implement proactive account lockouts for abnormal activity, mandate multi-factor authentication, commission an independent security review by **Bishop Fox**, and launch a coordinated vulnerability disclosure program. Civil-liberties advocates said the measures do not resolve broader risks posed by Flock’s surveillance network, which spans more than **120,000 ALPRs** across at least **6,000 U.S. cities**. Critics argued that exceptions such as **Evidence Mode** could still allow indefinite retention, that prior search-purpose controls were reportedly easy to bypass, and that there is no independent proof the audit tooling reliably detects abuse. The backlash follows reports of at least **46 cases** of alleged improper access and adds to concerns about data sharing, wrongful stops, non-law-enforcement use, and the continued expansion of camera deployments.
Aug 20, 2026
New York advocacy groups allege that state and local police searched **Flock Safety** automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) data for ICE and CBP-related purposes, sometimes logging the requests under generic investigative labels. Separately, reporting has identified dozens of U.S. officers accused, investigated, fired, or arrested for unauthorized ALPR searches, including alleged personal surveillance of romantic partners. The allegations have renewed calls for stricter audit reviews, access controls, retention limits, and restrictions on sharing vehicle-location data with immigration authorities. Scrutiny also extends to the scale of Flock’s network and the wider ALPR market. Flock reportedly explored using Nexar dashcams in rideshare and delivery vehicles to expand law-enforcement-accessible plate collection, though the company said the partnership did not materialize. Flock has reduced default retention from 30 days to one week and added safeguards, but agencies may be able to change those settings. Municipalities are reconsidering deployments: Manchester, Vermont, tabled a decision on its five cameras amid privacy and AI false-positive concerns, while other cities have disabled systems and opposition has included alleged camera vandalism. Civil-liberties advocates warn that alternative providers, including Motorola Solutions/Vigilant and Axon, create comparable mass-surveillance risks.
Sep 4, 2026
Flock Safety’s network of roughly **90,000** vehicle-surveillance cameras is facing renewed scrutiny after a false alert tied to partial license plate matching reportedly led Minnesota police to stop and arrest a driver in a Jaguar Land Rover media fleet vehicle. According to the account, a stolen New Jersey manufacturer plate was entered into Flock’s system as `34 DTM`, omitting smaller middle digits and causing the platform to match a broader `34 ## DTM` pattern. Flock said the system operated as configured and that law enforcement wanted partial-plate matching so officers could receive alerts even when plate data is incomplete. The incident has intensified criticism of Flock’s broader surveillance model, which uses Falcon automatic license plate reader cameras and Condor pan-tilt-zoom cameras to capture vehicle images and metadata, transmit them over cellular networks, and store searchable records in Flock’s cloud platform on Amazon Web Services. Privacy advocates and former law enforcement officials warn that shared cross-agency access, AI-assisted searches, insider misuse, and person-tracking capabilities can reconstruct individuals’ movements and turn bad data into dangerous police encounters. Public opposition has also grown in some communities, including Saranac Lake, where residents pushed officials to cancel a Flock contract and remove cameras.
Jul 21, 2026