Cut the Cameras: Many Americans Want to Get Rid of Flock Surveillance Cameras

A company called Flock Safety makes cameras that read license plates and track where cars go. Police and security companies use these cameras to log the movements of vehicles in neighborhoods across the United States. Right now, there are about 120,000 Flock cameras in the US, and they scan license plates around 2 billion times every month. People from both political parties — Republicans and Democrats — are now speaking out against these cameras, which is rare in today's divided country.

Flock's cameras are called automated license plate readers, or ALPRs. They take pictures of license plates so police can track where cars have been. Reports have shown that some police officers misused these cameras — for example, using them to spy on ex-partners or to track people seeking medical care in other states. The cameras are also used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which has added to people's concerns.

Opposition to Flock cameras has been growing fast. Data from the Washington Post shows that about 46% of Americans are against these cameras being used in their communities. That number is up 13 points from just a year ago. Some people are so angry that they have posted videos of themselves smashing the cameras online, and those videos have received a lot of support from viewers.

Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, says he has never seen this kind of public anger against a surveillance technology before. He has worked at the ACLU for more than 20 years. He says that people on the left worry about government spying on activists, while people on the right feel the government should stay out of their private lives. Both groups agree that Flock cameras go too far.

Politicians from both parties are taking action. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, blocked state agencies from buying Flock products. Senator Bernie Sanders, a progressive, plans to introduce a law to limit how Flock cameras can be used. Republican Senator Josh Hawley is investigating whether Flock has violated people's privacy, and two congressmen from different parties are teaming up to stop federal money from being used to buy Flock cameras.

Privacy experts say this bipartisan pushback makes sense. Matthew Guariglia of the Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed out that once cameras go up, they stay up for a long time — even after new leaders take power. He said people might trust who is in charge today, but they may not trust whoever controls the cameras in the future. That idea has made many people on all sides of politics nervous.

Regular citizens have also been taking a stand. People have shown up at town hall meetings by the dozens over the past six months, and protests against Flock cameras have taken place all over the country. More than 100 cities and towns have already canceled their contracts with Flock, according to the nonprofit Institute for Justice. A group called DeFlock, started in 2024, is building a map of where all the cameras are so people can find them.

Woodrow Hartzog, a professor of law and computer science at Boston University, says Flock represents a bigger problem many people have with tech companies working too closely with governments. He believes the anger has finally reached a boiling point. He also says the pushback against Flock shows that surveillance is not something people just have to accept. 'It's up to all of us to stop them,' he said.