Flock Camera Awareness + State Opt-Out

What Flock cameras do

Flock Safety is a private company contracted by police departments, HOAs, and private property owners in 5,000+ US cities. Each camera reads every license plate that passes (every direction, day and night), records vehicle make/color/year/distinguishing features, and stores the data in a shared database accessible by police across jurisdictions.

Default retention is 30 days, though many jurisdictions retain longer. Plate data is matched against a "hotlist" (stolen vehicles, AMBER alerts, wanted persons) but also retained for general investigative use.

Where they are

Flock publishes a transparency map of their LE deployments:

→ https://transparency.flocksafety.com

Type your city, see the deployment status. Note: HOA + private-property deployments are not on this map and are far more numerous.

What rights you have

Privacy rights around ALPR (automated license-plate reader) data vary significantly by state. The pattern:

States with strong ALPR statutes

State	Key right
California	CCPA gives consumers the right to request and delete personal info — courts have ruled ALPR data qualifies. Request via your local PD.
New Hampshire	RSA 236:130 requires deletion within 3 minutes of capture unless matched to a hotlist. Strictest in the US.
Maine	29-A MRSA §2117-A requires 21-day deletion for non-investigative data.
Vermont	23 V.S.A. §1607 requires 18-month max retention; private use prohibited.
Arkansas	A.C.A. §12-12-1801 et seq. — 150-day max retention, no commercial use.
Utah	UCA §41-6a-2003 — 9-month max retention, public-records-act access for own plate.

States with weaker / no specific statute

Most US states have no ALPR-specific law. Your options:

1. File a public records request with the police department that owns the camera, asking for all data on your plate.
2. Ask whether the department retains your data beyond the case in which it was captured.
3. If you're targeted by an HOA-operated Flock, your state's HOA regulations + your CC&Rs are the only leverage — there is no federal statute.

How to find out what's been captured on your plate

From police-operated cameras

1. Find the PD that contracts Flock in your area (check transparency.flocksafety.com)
2. Submit a public-records request specifically for ALPR data on your plate. Sample text:

Pursuant to [your state's Public Records Act, e.g., California Public Records Act Gov. Code §7920 et seq.], I request all records generated by Flock Safety automated license-plate readers operated by [department name] that capture vehicles with the license plate [your plate number] for the period [date range]. I request that the records be provided in their original format, including timestamps, camera locations, and any associated metadata.

1. Most PDs respond within 10-30 days. Many will charge a fee for compiled records.

From HOA / private cameras

You typically have no statutory right of access. If you're an HOA member, you can request the data the HOA maintains under your CC&Rs and the state HOA statute. If you're not a member, you have no recourse short of litigation.

How to opt out of being recorded

You can't, in practice. The cameras read every plate that passes.

Practical mitigations:

• Use a vehicle registered under an LLC (the LLC's name appears on

ALPR records, not yours)

• Don't drive routes that go past Flock-installed intersections (the

transparency map shows specific intersections in many cities)

• If you're being stalked, request that the operating PD add a

"private notice" flag to your plate — many PDs honor this

Real risks vs. theoretical risks

Real: Plate data has been used in stalking cases by individuals with police-database access. Plate data has been used by ICE to identify undocumented drivers. Plate data has been used to track abortion-clinic visits in post-Dobbs states. These are documented.

Less real: "Flock is doing facial recognition." Flock cameras read plates, make, model, color, and bumper stickers — not faces. Some Flock products do scan for faces (Flock Raven, Falcon LR), but these are deployed in much smaller numbers than ALPR Falcons.

What can be done at the policy level

• Push your state legislature for an ALPR-specific statute (Maine,

New Hampshire, Vermont are the templates)

• Push your city council for a "retention shall not exceed X days"

ordinance

• Push your HOA to require a vote before deploying private Flock

cameras

• Support EFF's Atlas of Surveillance project, which maps every

known police-surveillance technology by city: https://atlasofsurveillance.org

Related tools

• Privacy Score Checker — broader privacy posture
• Public IP Exposure Checker — what your IP reveals
• Data Broker Removal Status — get yourself off other surveillance databases
• Swatting Defense Checklist — adjacent physical-security topic

Educational. State laws change; verify current statutes before relying on the rights listed above. The Flock transparency map shows only LE-operated cameras — private deployments are typically unpublished.