American cities and municipalities have begun rejecting Flock Safety's intelligent license plate reader cameras at a record pace, reports Good News Network. According to data from the civil rights organization Secure Justice in Oakland, 93 jurisdictions in the US terminated their partnerships with the company in August 2026 alone. Since 2021, a total of 214 municipalities have dropped Flock's surveillance cameras, according to infohub.kz.
The devices are equipped with artificial intelligence that scans license plates and feeds the data into a single national database. The public, senators, and governors have expressed deep concern over the scale of surveillance and potential abuses.
Investigations by journalists and rights groups have uncovered numerous cases of misuse. In particular, there have been instances where police officers used Flock cameras to track the movements of their ex-wives and acquaintances without authorization. Additionally, AI errors in recognizing characters on plates have repeatedly led to wrongful and aggressive arrests of innocent citizens.
Senator Josh Hawley has already announced an investigation into Flock Safety, calling the network of 120,000 cameras an unprecedented threat to privacy. In response, Flock Safety representatives say that the number of new contracts with cities still exceeds the number of cancellations, and the company is already working to reduce data retention periods and improve privacy standards.