Flock Watch is an independent public interest mapping and research tool focused on documenting the deployment of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras. These cameras, commonly known as ALPRs, photograph vehicles and record information such as license plate numbers, vehicle characteristics, location, and time.
The project helps users identify where Flock Safety cameras have been reported or observed in communities across the United States. By making camera locations easier to explore, Flock Watch provides greater visibility into surveillance infrastructure that can otherwise be difficult for residents to identify or understand.
Automated license plate readers are increasingly used by law enforcement agencies, municipalities, homeowners associations, businesses, and other organizations. The technology can assist with investigations and locating vehicles. However, its expansion has also raised important questions about privacy, data retention, information sharing, government oversight, and the creation of large databases documenting vehicle movements.
Flock Watch can be useful as a starting point for researchers investigating surveillance systems in their communities. Camera location information can be combined with city contracts, procurement records, meeting minutes, public records requests, law enforcement policies, and data sharing agreements to better understand how a local ALPR network operates and which agencies may have access to its information.
Because surveillance equipment can be installed, relocated, or removed, users should treat mapped locations as research leads and independently verify important information when possible.
For the Resistance Directory, Flock Watch is a valuable digital privacy and surveillance accountability resource for people researching automated license plate readers, law enforcement technology, public surveillance infrastructure, and government transparency.
Key Features
- Maps reported Flock Safety camera locations.
- Helps identify automated license plate reader infrastructure.
- Supports research into local law enforcement surveillance technology.
- Provides a starting point for investigating ALPR deployments.
- Helps researchers identify locations that can be verified through public records.
- Supports investigations into surveillance contracts and procurement.
- Provides information relevant to privacy and civil liberties research.
- Helps communities better understand surveillance infrastructure operating in public spaces.
Best For
Privacy advocates, journalists, civil liberties organizations, community researchers, public records investigators, surveillance researchers, policymakers, attorneys, technologists, and citizens researching automated license plate readers in their communities.