Eve is here. This post serves as an important way to spread the word about how easily Flock cameras, which are marketed as license plate readers but are actually wide-area surveillance cameras, can be hacked and their videos altered.
But basic usage is bad enough. 404 Media reported in May that ICE was using Flock devices’ 5,000 community network to track and arrest suspected illegal immigrants.
Data reviewed by 404 Media shows that ICE uses data from license plate scanning tools, which are primarily marketed as surveillance solutions for small towns to fight crimes such as carjackings and missing person searches. Local police departments across the country are conducting searches with Flock’s AI-powered automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system as part of immigration-related raids and other ICE investigations, giving federal law enforcement unsolicited access to a tool for which they currently have no formal contract.
This vast search data was obtained and shared with 404 Media by researchers who requested anonymity to avoid potential retaliation. Statements from police departments and sheriff’s offices collected by 404 Media show more than 4,000 searches across the country and states by local and state police conducted at the behest of the federal government, as an “unofficial” convenience to federal law enforcement, or potentially focused on immigration.
Last week, a Washington Superior Court judge ruled in a landmark ruling that Flock’s recordings are public records, dismissing the usual excuse that they are no longer public records when kept by a private company. This decision caused panic within police departments that use Flock. This would allow the public to request all kinds of surveillance data, potentially exposing serious misconduct or negligence. From Fox:
Skagit County Superior Court has ruled that images from Stanwood and Sedro-Woolley’s Flock Safety automatic license plate reader cameras qualify as public records under Washington’s public records law.
Cities and law enforcement officials have long argued that data stored by third-party vendors is outside the scope of public records laws. They often make this claim even when the data records activity on public roads. While the Washington decision did not resolve broader surveillance issues, it rejected the idea that Flock’s camera images are exempt just because they are kept by the vendor. The decision reveals growing tensions between how government agencies use surveillance tools and what the public has access to under state law.
Needless to say, this ruling will be of great help not only to journalists, citizen investigators, and activists, but also to victims of the misuse of frocks and other license plate readers. As the video below explains, police should know that these systems have a fairly high rate of false positives, yet too often they are dispatched in pursuit of someone they believe to be suspicious. And that’s before he uses the vast recordings to stalk ex-girlfriends or target political groups the authorities don’t like.
The presentation concludes with practical advice on what to do if police try to detain or question you based on a fake number plate reader match, and how to take steps to limit the use of this technology.
But that being said, the ease of hacking and video tampering should greatly hinder the use of these cameras. I hope the engineers will consider this. What can the defense require the prosecution to provide to prove that the video has not been altered? Will the camera or system keep logs long enough to show there was no intrusion?
Written by Thomas Neuberger. Originally published on God’s Spies
This will be the “root” of the Flock camera. Pressing this button a secret number of times will give you complete control over the computer inside. (Image from video below)
We recently highlighted a number of issues with Flock Safety’s cameras, which are marketed to law enforcement and the public as “license plate readers.” These cameras are publicly installed in municipalities, operated by police, and used to record everything they see. Everything they see. And they are used for any purpose.
See here for more information.
City panics as mass surveillance records have to be made public
This is the story of the Flock camera you may have never heard of. Flock cameras are sold to gullible individuals and accomplices as simply “license plate readers.” Flock cameras are designed to monitor cars. Of course it’s for safety. Because it’s a crime. But it’s more than that.
It turns out there’s more to this story. These cameras are evil in more ways than one. (Thanks to Naked Capitalism commenter Friend for the tip.)
Swarm camera vulnerabilities
The best way to understand the myriad issues with Flock’s “safety” cameras is to watch the video above (I put safety in quotes because the cameras are so dangerous). It consists of the following chapters.
Vulnerability (1:30) Questionable Effectiveness (21:26) Backlash (30:28) Compromise (37:38)
I recommend looking at the first two, especially the first one, for the surprising number of vulnerabilities. Yes, Flocks is completely hackable. Some of the vulnerabilities include:
The swarm camera is a computer. Give up “root” access and grant full control at the touch of a button. These can be hacked to send video streams to designated remote servers. These can be used as botnet clients to host malware (see video for explanation). It can capture Wi-Fi handshake credentials and perform “man-in-the-middle” or “honeypot” attacks. The captured handshake credentials can be used to replace or modify stored footage or images.
Let’s consider just the last problem. Prosecutors could be forced to prove that Flock’s data was never hacked or risk being ruled inadmissible in court.
Or imagine the possibility of blackmail from a malicious attacker who can use your hacked (or unhacked) images. (“Was that really the mayor? Who was the woman he kissed?”) Remember, Flock’s cameras record everything, not just license plate numbers. And that’s on top of the fact that these cameras don’t actually reduce crime (21:26). This is an excellent section in itself.
Go here to see the Flock camera placement map (described in Section 3).
Surveillance creates an unhappy society
While I can’t speak for China’s reaction to constant surveillance, the following certainly applies to people in the West as well. From the video (26:45):
If you’re in a job where you feel like your boss is constantly watching you and judging your every move, you’ll be more concerned about appearing productive than learning and developing skills at your natural speed.
Or consider this recent study that strongly suggests that high levels of monitoring cause a sharp decline in spontaneous visual processing. This literally means that it impairs the brain’s ability to process and recognize human faces. Again, this is one of those things that you hear and you’re like, “What?” But when you think about it, it’s not that surprising.
If you feel like you’re in an environment that doesn’t inherently trust you, you’re much less likely to form friendly or meaningful social connections with others. Sorry, but that doesn’t seem like a safe environment to me at all.
And that comes on top of a huge body of research outlining exactly how and why increased surveillance reduces happiness and mental health. But apparently some people only read research conducted by companies trying to sell them something.
“Some people” above refers to police officers and city employees. Back to why modern Americans default to surveillance and control.
And we all go together. We even defend our submission. Why do you think that is? Why do we follow the “airport experience” like cows?
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Why are so many European countries so extensively studied? For example:
Here in Sweden, the use of license plate scanners is standard at basically all parking lots, bridge toll booths and road toll booths. Even if you don’t install the app or become a “member” of the system you’re using, license plate scanners are still used to detect your entry and exit, and in some cases automatically find your home address and send you a bill without any interaction with the driver. Even if they offer alternative payment methods such as SMS, a license plate scanner will still be used upon departure.
The only political party that even considered this a problem was the Pirate Party 15 years ago, and even then it was not widely discussed. Like paying with a credit card instead of physical cash, people see it as a convenience or just the way it works now.
Read the comments here and here for more information. What do you think?
This entry was posted in Guest Post, Law, Politics, Surveillance State, Technology & Innovation by Yves Smith on November 25, 2025.
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