New website lets drivers check if their plates were queried by Flock camera system
A public site now allows vehicle owners to see whether their license plates have been searched in Flock Safety's surveillance database, amid privacy concerns over the company's extensive camera network.
A website called “Have I Been Flocked” enables drivers to enter their license-plate numbers and discover if the information was accessed through Flock Safety’s network of automated cameras. The tool compiles audit logs released via Freedom of Information Act requests and indicates whether an operator—who may be a law-enforcement officer or another authorized user—looked up the plate in the system. The site notes that a search does not necessarily mean the driver was stopped or investigated.
The platform also categorises the most common reasons for searches, citing public records that link the majority to drug-related investigations, followed by motor-vehicle theft inquiries. License-plate numbers entered on the site are not retained.
Flock Safety operates an estimated 120,000 cameras across the United States, providing data to law-enforcement agencies in every state except Alaska. Critics have raised privacy and Fourth Amendment concerns, pointing to incidents such as a North Carolina officer who was dismissed and later arrested for repeatedly using the system to track an ex-partner’s vehicle.
"Our end goal isn’t a dystopian future of surveillance; it’s one where we all feel safe," said Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley. He added that the technology has helped locate missing persons and recover stolen vehicles, citing 1,000 missing-person detections in July.
In response to public backlash, the company announced it will reduce the default data-retention period from 30 days to seven days, with longer retention only for records tied to a specific case number. Law-enforcement users will be required to employ an audit tool that flags abnormal search behavior and can lock out accounts pending investigation.
The American Civil Liberties Union described the retention change as a "step in the right direction," while warning that Flock still provides the infrastructure that enables extensive location tracking. The new policies are slated for implementation on January 1.