Mass surveillance without warrants. Data shared with federal agencies. Documented abuse. Security failures. Here's why Flock cameras threaten your civil liberties.
"A single query accesses more than 83,000 cameras spanning almost the entire nation, with minimal oversight and maximum potential for abuse."— ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION, 2025
These aren't hypothetical concerns. Here's what's actually happened with Flock's surveillance network:
A Texas sheriff's deputy searched Flock's nationwide database with the reason "had an abortion, search for female." The search accessed 83,345 cameras across nearly the entire country to track a woman who had self-administered an abortion.
Despite claiming no federal contracts, Flock admitted to running a "pilot program" giving Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security access to local camera data—without the knowledge of the communities being surveilled.
EFF documented more than 50 federal, state, and local agencies running hundreds of searches through Flock's network in connection with protest activity. The word "protest" was often the only reason given for the search.
Over 80 law enforcement agencies used language perpetuating harmful stereotypes against Romani people when searching Flock's network, often without mentioning any suspected crime.
Dozens of Flock cameras were discovered exposed to the open internet, streaming live video of public streets to anyone who found them. The company responsible for mass surveillance couldn't secure its own systems.
The Fourth Amendment protects Americans against "unreasonable searches and seizures." Courts have increasingly recognized that long-term location tracking constitutes a search requiring a warrant.
In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Carpenter v. United States that accessing historical cell phone location data requires a warrant. The same logic applies to ALPR data—yet police can search Flock's database freely without any judicial oversight.
The Institute for Justice has filed a federal lawsuit against Norfolk, Virginia's Flock network, arguing it violates the Fourth Amendment. A federal judge ruled the case could proceed, noting that "a reasonable person could believe that society's expectations [of privacy] are being violated by the Norfolk Flock system."
Huntsville approved police access to Flock cameras in 2022. Since then, the network has grown to include dozens of cameras forming a ring around downtown—all pointing outward to track vehicles entering the city.
It's no coincidence that DeFlock.me, the crowdsourced project mapping ALPR cameras worldwide, was founded right here in Huntsville by a resident who was alarmed at how many surveillance cameras he noticed on his daily commute.
Other cities are fighting back and winning. Eugene and Springfield, Oregon terminated their Flock contracts in December 2025. Evanston, Illinois deactivated their cameras. Scarsdale, New York ended their ALPR program. Huntsville can do the same.
Join thousands of Huntsville residents demanding an end to warrantless mass surveillance in our community.