Could there be a more dystopian name for an Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) company than “Flock Safety?” I suppose, but it would be pretty hard to beat implying that the general populace is a flock of sheep that needs the protection of a massive company valued at $7.5 billion. This company has set up its solar powered ALPRs in over 6,000 communities across the U.S. and is employed by over 5,000 law enforcement agencies. And the idea to use solar power was not chosen for environmental reasons, but to be able to keep tabs on Americans’ activities 24/7.
This is, plain and simple, mass surveillance. Some of the data collected by Flock Safety includes license plate number, vehicle make and model, vehicle color, bumper stickers, and the comings and going of vehicles. Even if no illegal activity took place, the data collected by Flock’s systems is stored for up to 30 days. In a time with near constant data leaks, an attack on Flock’s systems could be disastrous for Americans rapidly diming privacy.
Automatic license plate readers (ALPR) we invented in the United Kingdom during the late 1970s and in 1981 they were used for the first time to identify a stolen vehicle. This technology, however, would not be widely used until the 1990s. These systems only analyze license plate data and any flags that have been put out against it.
In contrast to these ALPRs, that we are used to, Flock Safety has created a nation-wide network of cameras that can be accessed by any of its customers, which include law enforcement agencies, neighborhood watch organizations, and private businesses. These systems also analyze much more than just the license plate data and take into account make and model of car, direction of travel and location. In one case, Texas law enforcement officers used Flock’s systems to track down women who got abortions as far as Illinois and Washington state. After this information was brought to light by an investigation in Illinois, Flock CEO Garrett Langly said that his company’s goal was to give cities and communities control and that the responsibility of transparency and oversight still remains with the cities and communities using Flock’s systems.
According to the ACLU, the new “Flock Business Network” could be used to create “watch lists, backlists, and databases” similar to those created in response to the anti-war and civil rights movements. In late June 2025 Flock Safety, in a blog post, stated:
“The integration allows retailers who use Flock Safety LPR to automatically push license plates involved in crime investigations directly into specific cases within ThinkLP’s evidence management platform, consolidating evidence in one place for busy security teams. Additionally, investigators can add vehicles to Flock Hotlists within the ThinkLP platform, so any user subscribed to that Hotlist is alerted the next time that vehicle is detected by a Flock LPR. ”
This consolidation of power into corporate hands is frightening. However flawed our government is, the people do have some control and politicians do have to (at least in theory) answer to their constituents. With corporations, however, they only answer to their powerful investors, whose interests are diametrically opposed to those of the general population.
It should not be surprising that mass surveillance is coming to the United States via a private company outsources its services to law enforcement agencies and businesses under the guise of “safety,” whatever that means anymore. It obviously does not mean the safety from police abuse and corporate blacklisting, nor the safety housing provides, nor knowing when your next meal will come. Our country is so focused on the safety of property we forget about the safety of people. And with people’s needs met, crimes of necessity would drop dramatically. Imagine if we spent as much time and money on caring for people that we spend on dystopian technology that further solidifies power in the hands of fewer and fewer people.
People may come away from hearing a story like this and interpret it as an example of Government overreach, but, in this case, that is somewhat Incorrect. This is another example of the increasing control massive corporations have over our day-to-day lives. The data the cameras are collecting, yes, can be used to identify stolen vehicles, identify women who have had abortions, and notify ICE to the location of immigrants, but its primary usage will be in generating profit for the largest companies. It will allow for the blacklisting of those who engage in pro-labor activity and will create an even more encompassing way for companies to collected information on individuals for the purpose of selling commodities.
With this new camera installed on Route 18, it is time for us to look at our options. The ACUL has compiles ways to check the power of the Flock System in the article: How to Pump the Brakes on Your Police Department’s Use of Flock’s Mass Surveillance License Plate Readers. We are at a crossroad. Do we want to stand up for our rights and liberties, or do we want to allow massive corporations to strip our rights away day by day?
