Community Technology Investigation: 1

FLOCK / AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALPR)

Research · Active

The Findings

Twelve claims interrogated. Open any finding to see the underlying evidence.

What the interrogation revealed:

Audit Our Work

Don't take our word for it.

Every consequential finding in this investigation should be independently checkable. Examine the sources we relied on or explore the broader research record behind the investigation.

Works Cited Research Bibliography

Works Cited contains the sources directly supporting the published findings. Research Bibliography documents the broader body of material examined during the investigation—including material that did not become evidence for a published finding.

FLOCK / AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALPR)

Twelve claims interrogated. Open any finding to see the underlying evidence.

The camera is only a small piece of the whole. What system is operating behind it—and more importantly, what can it do?

Typing in a reason is not the same as proving the reason is legitimate. What actually validates the search?

If users can satisfy a safeguard by changing the reason they enter, is it really a safeguard? Changing the words does not change the purpose of the search—it only changes what the system is told.

Why isn't legitimate purpose verified against authoritative information before sensitive records are returned in a technologically sophisticated, connected system—especially when there is a long history of documented abuse?

An audit trail only allows for action after sensitive information has already been accessed. So why are local and state officials asked to rely on it as possibly the only safeguard against harm to the citizens they represent?

Flock is sold to communities to curb shootings, stolen cars, violent crime, and find missing children. Once installed, what is actually considered a legitimate reason to search it?

A city can approve a limited number of public cameras while law enforcement gains access to a much larger network of privately owned cameras. So what surveillance network did the public actually authorize?

Flock’s safeguards govern information inside Flock. But Flock is designed to send information into other systems. Once the data leaves, which safeguards leave with it?

Officials are told Flock data is deleted after 30 days. But Flock itself documents records surviving beyond that period. So what exactly is being deleted—and what isn't?

Officials are told, “You own your data.” But Flock’s terms grant Flock a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide license to Customer Data for specified uses. So what control does “ownership” actually give the public?

Don't take our word for it.