Resources
Sourced material for readers who want to go deeper. Organized by type, not by length. Everything here has a named source.
Start here
Consumer Rights Wiki: Flock Surveillance
The most thorough public record of Flock Safety incidents, legal cases, and policy questions. Covers documented false positives, officer misuse, audit data, and responses to common pro-Flock arguments. If you read one thing, read this.
consumerrights.wiki
DeFlock.org
National campaign tracking ALPR opposition. Has a FOIA request guide, a council toolkit for people who want to bring this to their local government, and a running list of canceled contracts.
deflock.org
DeFlock Birmingham
Alabama's in-state campaign. Birmingham has roughly 1,500 Flock cameras and no published policies governing data access or retention. Useful context for what Auburn and Opelika's situation looks like at scale.
deflockbhm.com
Latest reporting
Investigative reporting from footnote4a.org
- Flock now says it got hacked mere weeks before Bishop Fox arrived
October 3, 2026
Flock promised a Bishop Fox report in September. It published a summary saying no customer data was accessed. Three days later, its lawyers said confidential customer data had been taken.
- Follow the Fiduciary
October 1, 2026
The official line is that HIDTA is a grant program, not an agency. Reality is more complicated.
- CORCA — The Federal Bill to Expand Flock
September 20, 2026
Six of the eleven senators set to grill Flock's CEO on September 23 are cosponsoring a bill that would fund more surveillance and put a new ICE-led intelligence center in charge of sharing it.
- New Flock Terms: Perhaps You Think You're Being Treated Unfairly?
August 22, 2026
Flock updated its terms again. It violated them before the ink was dry.
Legal and constitutional
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Carpenter v. United States (2018)
The Supreme Court held that long-term collection of cell location data is a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant. Advocates and courts have applied this reasoning directly to ALPR data retention.
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Commonwealth v. McCarthy (MA, 2020)
Massachusetts' highest court ruled that retaining ALPR data beyond 48 hours requires a search warrant. One of the few state-level rulings specifically addressing ALPR retention periods.
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Schmidt v. City of Norfolk (E.D. Va., 2026)
Active federal case challenging Flock Safety on Fourth Amendment grounds. Litigated by the Institute for Justice. Outcome may directly affect how other cities can legally operate ALPR networks.
Investigations and reporting
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"When license plate readers get it wrong"
CBS News, July 2025
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"One sleepy Virginia town, nearly 7 million hits"
Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism / WHRO, September 2025
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"The Nationwide Revolt Against Flock Safety Cameras"
New Republic, February 2026
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"Why some cities are canceling Flock contracts"
NPR, February 2026
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The Marshall Project, March 2026
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"Flock camera installations broke laws in at least five states"
Forbes, February 2024
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"Police have used plate readers to stalk romantic interests at least 26 times"
Institute for Justice, retrieved July 2026
Data and research
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"Data Driven: Explore How Cops Are Collecting and Sharing Our Travel Patterns"
EFF / Maass & Lipton, 2021. An interactive tool mapping how police departments share vehicle location data across the country. Shows the national scope of ALPR networks.
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Virginia State Crime Commission, January 2026. State audit documenting how many times Virginia's Flock networks were queried by outside agencies. The primary source for the nearly 7 million searches figure.
Organizations working on this
- Electronic Frontier Foundation Digital rights. Publishes ALPR research and tracks surveillance policy.
- ACLU Civil liberties. Has challenged ALPR deployments in several states.
- Institute for Justice Litigating Schmidt v. City of Norfolk, the active federal ALPR challenge.
Printable materials
Free downloads from deflock.org/store. Print and share.
National map
Community-maintained map of Flock Safety camera locations across the country. Locations are added as they're confirmed through public records and community reports. You can also view the Auburn and Opelika area directly on this site.
deflock.me
Stay updated
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