Flock Safety Tightens License Plate Reader Privacy Controls After Officer Abuse
Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based license plate reader (LPR) company, announced expanded privacy controls on Thursday in response to mounting scandals over law enforcement misuse of its surveillance network. The company will now require all of its more than 7,000 customers to adopt its "Audit Assistance" feature, which tracks abnormal activity within departments and flags suspicious behavior for review. Accounts will be automatically suspended during reviews, and officers must input case codes connected to investigations when conducting searches—a feature that had been optional since its July 2025 rollout, though it can still be bypassed in emergencies. For individuals concerned about how their own data is exposed online, a privacy checkup can help identify exposed personal information across services.
The policy changes follow a Washington Post investigation that found at least 50 law enforcement officers have been charged with misusing Flock's tools. Just this week, a New Bedford, Massachusetts police officer was accused in court of using the technology to stalk their ex-girlfriend, and three sheriff's deputies in Georgia were arrested for similar offenses. Flock also announced it will reduce license plate search data retention from 30 days to seven days, except when data is preserved as evidence. Clients can now limit the circumstances under which their data is shared across jurisdictions—permitting searches for missing persons while blocking access for immigration enforcement, though the company has not explained how officers will be prevented from lying about the purpose of a query. Users who want to understand how their browsing activity might be tracked can use a VPN/proxy detector to verify whether their connections are actually masked from surveillance networks.
ACLU senior policy counsel Chad Marlow dismissed the announcement as "largely a public relations stunt," noting several changes were "retreads of previous inadequate safety measures." He warned that past mandates requiring officers to input a search purpose failed because users could easily circumvent the system. Founded 10 years ago, Flock has deployed roughly 120,000 license plate readers across the country, creating a vast cross-jurisdictional surveillance infrastructure that has drawn fierce opposition from civil liberties groups who warn it is eroding Fourth Amendment protections.