What are Flock Safety cameras and why are they controversial?

Flock Safety is a controversial American surveillance company best known for its network of more than 120,000 cameras that use artificial intelligence to identify license plates. The cameras are in use across the United States, and, while Flock has become synonymous with the technology, there are other companies that offer similar services.

Background

Garrett Langley had the idea for Flock in 2017 when his Atlanta neighborhood was plagued by a series of car break-ins. He called the police, who suggested that Langley and his neighbors invest in license plate scanners: security devices that could cost more than $20,000. Langley, an electrical engineer, decided to build one of his own. “No one was more surprised than we were,” Flock cofounder Paige Todd told Inc. magazine, “that it actually worked.”

By the time Langley, Todd, and third cofounder Matt Feury entered the three-month Y Combinator startup-building program in 2017, Flock was selling its scanners to homeowners associations. In early 2020 they began selling to police departments.

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Use and controversy

Flock’s cloud-based automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) use AI technology to read passing license plates and add the collected information to a nationwide database. Customers, both police departments and private clients, can use the database to search for and track the movement of license plates across the country. The network is vast, with seemingly ubiquitous pole-mounted Flock cameras reportedly scanning 20 billion license plates per month.

Law enforcement officials have praised Flock’s surveillance technology for helping to solve crimes. One of the most high-profile uses of the technology was to track down Ryan Routh, who was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to assassinate then–presidential candidate Donald Trump in Florida in 2024. In December 2025, the police chief of Providence, Rhode Island, credited Flock technology with helping to find the suspect behind a shooting at Brown University. In July 2026, a South Carolina sheriff’s office said Flock helped locate a vehicle used to kidnap a mother and child.

And yet, opposition to Flock’s surveillance technology is strong and, according to The New York Times, unites critics across political aisles: “liberals worried about government surveillance, conservatives skeptical of expanding state power and privacy-conscious citizens and lawmakers concerned about how the network could be abused.” At the heart of the issue is whether the cameras can be used as a de facto warrantless search, which would be in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has described Flock’s flagship ALPRs as a “dangerous nationwide mass-surveillance infrastructure,” citing use by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to locate undocumented immigrants for deportation. Flock denies that it shares its data with federal law enforcement, saying on its website: “Flock does not partner with ICE. Communities control federal data access. By default, sharing with federal agencies is disabled.” Flock’s policy, however, does not prevent federal agencies from asking for Flock data from local law enforcement. Audits in California and Washington revealed instances in which local law enforcement shared data with out-of-state or federal agencies, including ICE.

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Another issue involving Flock cameras has been the misuse of their data by law enforcement officers. In August 2026 The Washington Post reported that at least 50 officers have been “charged with or accused of misusing [Flock],” including to facilitate stalking and harassment. More than 150 U.S. cities have banned, rejected, or deactivated Flock cameras as of September 2026, including Cambridge, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; and Austin, Texas. In addition to the action by local governments, citizen activists have formed groups, including one called DeFlock, to raise community awareness and post maps showing camera locations.

Business impact

Even as Flock positioned itself to offer additional products, including drones and audio detection devices that alert users to gunshots and car accidents, the $8 billion company announced buyouts for some of its 1,500 employees in September 2026.