Flock Camera Backlash Puts AI Surveillance Under Scrutiny as Devices Shot

Flock Safety’s US network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) is facing growing scrutiny over privacy, accuracy, data access, and the physical safety of roadside installations.

The cameras photograph passing vehicles and use machine learning to convert license plates, colors, makes, models, and other characteristics into searchable information. Flock says it has deployed around 120,000 cameras across 49 US states, serving police departments, local governments, schools, businesses, and homeowners’ associations.

Law enforcement agencies say the technology helps locate stolen vehicles, missing persons, and suspects to keep people safe. Critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that it creates a mass-surveillance network by recording vehicles regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing. There have also been concerns regarding inaccuracy, wrongful stops, and police misuse.

Backlash against Flock intensified after road safety advocate Steve Eimers, known online as “The Guardrail Guy,” documented ALPR cameras that he believed were mounted on potentially dangerous roadside poles. Several cameras featured in his posts were subsequently shot, according to Wired. Tennessee authorities later charged congressional candidate Adam Heimerman with four counts of felony vandalism for allegedly shooting four ALPR systems.

Flock has since announced a nationwide audit of the safety of its installations.

“The debate around platforms like Flock isn’t just about surveillance or even AI. It's also about trust,” said Andrew Sever, CEO of Sumsub. “We're entering a world where AI no longer just analyzes information. It identifies people, prioritizes investigations, interacts with customers, initiates transactions, and increasingly makes decisions on behalf of organizations. As AI evolves from a tool into an actor, the question is no longer simply, how good is this AI? It's who is this AI, who does it represent, and should we trust it?”