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ACLU says Flock Safety keeps misleading officials
The ACLU accuses Flock Safety of misleading officials about ALPR tracking, federal data access, privacy safeguards, and an alleged partnership.
Image: Hacker News
The ACLU is urging government agencies to reconsider working with Flock Safety, accusing the automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company of repeatedly misleading city councils, police departments, and the public about its technology and data practices.
The organization’s latest example comes from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. During an April city council meeting, a council member asked whether Flock’s system could create a heat map showing where a particular vehicle had traveled over time. Flock’s chief information security officer, who was present, said the system did not “create a pattern or heat map of an individual’s movement.”
The council approved Flock’s contract that day. The following morning, city officials learned that the system could, in fact, generate a heat map showing where “point-in-time images have been captured of a vehicle” for up to one month. The council reconvened and revoked its approval, creating what the ACLU describes as a record: just one day between approving and canceling a Flock contract.
“I don’t know how this body can govern if someone tells untruths, mistruths, exaggerated truths. I don’t know how I can make a decision or discern what’s right or what’s wrong, or even the capabilities of this system if you lie to me.”
“Shame on them. All I’m saying is if you give bad information, then I just don’t want to work with you.”
The ACLU says Flock later characterized the dispute as “one small misconception” and a “minor nuance,” while criticizing Oshkosh for not giving the company an opportunity to explain its statement after it was challenged.
Flock’s claims about federal data access
The ACLU says the Oshkosh incident reflects a broader pattern involving Flock’s business practices, safety record, privacy commitments, and protections for vulnerable groups.
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In Loveland, Colorado, Police Chief Tim Doran raised concerns that federal agencies were accessing the city’s ALPR data. Flock reportedly told him that federal agencies no longer had access and had its CEO tell the press that federal data sharing was not an issue because Flock had no federal contracts.
The company later acknowledged that it held pilot-project contracts with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security (DHS) that gave those agencies direct access to license data.
“We clearly communicated poorly.”
The ACLU also cites reports that local police departments were sharing Flock data and search results with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP. Flock responded with a blog post titled “Does Flock Share Data With ICE? No. Flock Does Not Work With ICE,” emphasizing that ICE did not have direct access to Flock cameras, systems, or data.
The ACLU argues that this framing avoided the central issue: ICE could obtain indirect access through state and local law enforcement customers. Flock’s CEO ultimately acknowledged that the system had been used for immigration enforcement, while arguing that the matter was not Flock’s responsibility.
Safeguards and alleged ACLU partnership
In May 2025, reports said law enforcement in at least one state, Texas, had used Flock’s system to track a person seeking abortion care in Illinois. Flock responded with “New Product Solutions to Strengthen Compliance,” including a “Proactive Search Term Tool” introduced on June 12, 2025.
According to an investigation by the ACLU of Massachusetts, police audits showed officers could bypass the safeguard with vague search reasons. In September 2025, an Oregon police department searched the system 111 times using “investigation” and 20 times using “hehehe.” The ACLU says those entries demonstrate how easily officers could avoid terms that would trigger restrictions, such as “abortion.”
The ACLU also disputes Flock’s claims that it partnered with the organization. After Flock and the ACLU of New Mexico supported the same ALPR bill for different reasons, Flock Senior Director of Public Affairs Trevor L. Chandler said on social media that the company had partnered with the ACLU of New Mexico and law enforcement to craft and pass it.
The ACLU says neither it nor any affiliate has partnered with Flock Safety or helped design an ALPR system. It says the organization has spent 106 years building its reputation and advises governments to impose strict limits on ALPR data retention, sharing, and permissible uses—and to avoid companies that repeatedly mislead officials and customers.
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via Hacker News
