Fight Creepy ALPR Cameras
Automatic license plate reader (ALPR) companies like Flock Safety are quietly trying to build a nationwide mass surveillance system. If there are Flock cameras in your city, they are tracking, logging, and sharing your movements without a warrant. But we're not powerless. More and more communities are rejecting these creepy cameras — and yours can be one of them!
Fast Facts
Flock cameras are currently installed in both urban and rural areas on highways, in neighborhoods, and outside your local hardware store.
of cars scanned by ALPRs are connected to any crime or wrongdoing.
license plates scanned by Flock license plate readers misread the state.
Flock's ALPR cameras aren't like your normal traffic cameras. This surveillance technology records and tracks every car that comes into view, and then an AI algorithm catalogs the make, model, color, license plate number, bumper stickers, and even scratches. This personal information is then uploaded into a nationwide database that any law enforcement agency with a Flock contract can search — with few regulations or oversight on how they use what they find.
What the Flock?
Flock provides one of the most widely used ALPR systems, but they aren't the only company trying to make a buck by spying on us. Axon, Vigilant Solutions (a subsidiary of Motorola Solutions), Genetec, PlateSmart, Innova Systems, Rekor, ELSAG, Perceptics, and Jenoptik are a few of the other leading companies selling ALPRs to police, private companies, and others.
It doesn't matter which company has its creepy cameras in your neighborhood; they all have the same problems: a lack of transparency, oversight, and regulation into how they collect, store, and use our data, and how to hold public and private actors accountable if they abuse it.
Just think about how much someone could learn about your life if cameras constantly tracked where you drove. They could find out which doctors you visit, what house of faith you worship at, who you visit or drive around with — even which political meetings and protests you attend.
And we've already seen how this mass surveillance tool can be weaponized and abused by law enforcement. ICE and CBP have repeatedly used Flock to go after immigrants without warrants. Kansas police used them to pursue a man who wrote a critical op-ed about the department, while a Colorado police officer wrongfully accused a woman of theft based on a Flock hit and then refused to look at evidence proving her innocence. A mother and her children were held at gunpoint because ALPR cameras wrongly flagged their car as stolen.
Tell Flock Safety to Get the Flock Out!
This unprecedented spying is terrifying, but there's good news, too. Communities across the country are fighting back against these creepy cameras and winning.
Cities and police departments are canceling their contracts with Flock in response to public pressure. ACLU affiliates are supporting — and passing! — legislation in the states to regulate how ALPR cameras are used. But we need your help.
Read our local advocacy toolkit and join the movement to tell Flock and other ALPR companies: "Get The Flock Out!"
The ACLU's Ongoing Work
The ACLU has been working for over a decade to increase transparency and accountability for how ALPR cameras are being used.
In 2013, we released You Are Being Tracked, a report detailing how ALPR cameras were becoming a tool for mass routine location tracking and surveillance. Our privacy and technology team has kept a close eye on the spread of ALPR cameras in the following decade, and in February 2026, we released model legislation with strict guidelines for regulating the use of ALPR cameras. In April 2026, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in a Fourth Circuit case arguing that the use of ALPR systems gave the government unprecedented powers of surveillance that upset traditional expectations of privacy in violation of the Fourth Amendment. And in May 2026, the ACLU supported a bipartisan amendment to the federal highway funding bill that would have prevented cities and states from using ALPR cameras, except for tolling purposes.
Communities across the country are fighting back against the slow creep of license plate readers into their neighborhoods — and the ACLU’s State Affiliates are leading the way. They’ve helped organize local community members to oppose Automatic License Plate Readers by Flock and other companies, passed legislation regulating them, and successfully convinced cities to oppose and cancel contracts for this invasive surveillance tech.
Click your state below to learn more about their work and join your local movement to fight back against mass surveillance.
Last updated on June 26, 2026
Arizona
Ongoing Advocacy
Canceled Contracts
- December 2025 — Flagstaff city council voted unanimously to cancel their contract with Flock.
California
Ongoing Advocacy
Canceled Contracts
- January 2026: Worked with a local coalition to mobilize opposition to Flock cameras in Santa Cruz. In January 2026, the City Council voted to end their contract with Flock Safety.
- February 2026: Worked with a local coalition to mobilize opposition to Flock cameras in Mountain View. In February 2026, the Chief of Police announced they would immediately discontinue use of Flock ALPR cameras.
- May 2026: Submitted public comments to the El Cerrito City Council, which voted 3-2 to not renew their Flock contract, effectively ending it. The termination of this agreement with Flock effectively saves El Cerrito $315K over the next three years.
Legal Action
- Filed a lawsuit in November 2025 alongside the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) challenging San Jose's warrantless ALPR mass surveillance.
- The EFF and the ACLU affiliates of Northern California, Southern California, and San Diego & Imperial Counties sued the Marin County Sheriff in October 2021 for illegally sharing drivers' license plate data with ICE, CBP and other out-of-state agencies. In May 2022, the plaintiffs reached a settlement in which the Sheriff agreed to stop sharing license plate and location information with agencies outside of California. The settlement is binding for any of the Sheriff’s successors.
- Filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in May 2018 demanding records of ICE's contracts with private ALPR companies to purchase data for potential use for civil immigration enforcement.
Legal Action
- The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the EFF won a decision by the California Supreme Court that the license plate data collected indiscriminately by ALPR cameras can't be kept secret by law enforcement. This opens pathways for public accountability and transparency about how this data is used.
Advocacy
- Sent letters to over 70 law enforcement agencies in California, demanding they stop illegally sharing ALPR camera data with states that have criminalized abortion care. They also notified the California Attorney General about these violations, who then instructed police across the state to cease sharing license plate information with other states or federal agencies.
ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties
Advocacy
- Organized testimony opposing the San Diego City Council continuing their contract with Flock Safety.
- Organized testimony before the San Diego City Council Budget Review Committee opposing the city's investment in ALPR. Within 24 hours of organizing with community partners against the renewal of the contract with Flock, two council members put out this memo: City of San Diego Memorandum. The memo said in part: " . . .there has been a significant shift at the federal level that has resulted in relevant community concerns regarding the safety of public surveillance technology data, with a particular focus on Flock Safety . . .". This victory was tempered in part by recent revelations that the City also signed a new contract with Flock regarding a particularly concerning new software.
- Spoke at a press conference urging the San Diego City Council to end their contract with Flock Safety and stop the use of ALPR.
- Created a factsheet outlining the connection between federal funding sources and local police surveillance.
Colorado
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Flock camera audit logs were obtained from the Denver Police Department through a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request, proving that Denver data was searched more than 1,400 times for ICE since June 2024.
- Worked with community organizers in Thornton, CO to hold a town hall that drew over 100 people to learn about the harms of Flock.
- Worked with community organizers in Durango to write a proposed ordinance for ALPR regulation. Since the ordinance was proposed, the Durango city attorney has been directed to draft an ordinance to regulate ALPRs.
Canceled Contracts
- September 2025 — The City of Louisville deactivates its cameras.
- December 2025 — Longmont city council declines to renew their existing Flock contract.
Connecticut
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Helped pass state legislation setting strict limits on accessing data collected by ALPR cameras.
- Called for a statewide moratorium in November 2025 on the use of ALPR systems until meaningful safeguards are implemented.
Legal Action
- Filed 94 public records requests with police departments across the state in November 2025 to obtain information about law enforcement's use of ALPR cameras to track drivers' movements and enable data sharing across state lines.
Illinois
Ongoing Advocacy
Canceled Contracts
- August 2025 — The city of Evanston cancels their existing Flock contract.
Legal Action
- Submitted public records requests to ten Illinois law enforcement agencies about how ALPR cameras are used and how the data collected is stored and shared.
Indiana
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Partnered with local advocacy groups to advocate for state rules limiting how long data collected by ALPR cameras can be stored, restricting how it can be used, and banning Indiana law enforcement from sharing that data with law enforcement from other states or the federal government.
Iowa
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Launched a campaign to demand the cancellation of ALPR contracts in Iowa, which included a map of ALPR cameras across Iowa and a local advocacy toolkit.
- Released a report about the costs and risks posed by ALPR cameras in Iowa.
Canceled Contracts
- February 2026 — Coralville city council votes to cancel their existing Flock contract.
Maine
Ongoing Advocacy
Legal Action
- Requested documents and communications about Flock Safety from Maine towns and cities that appear to be working with Flock Safety.
Massachusetts
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Sent public records requests to dozens of Massachusetts police departments to learn more about their use of ALPRs, and released a model public records request for other community advocates.
- Released a blog that outlines how Flock shares license plate reader data showing drivers' locations, how that may conflict with Massachusetts's Shield Law, and how to take action.
- Launched a resource guide with tools and information to help communities advocate for stronger guardrails and oversight around law enforcement use of ALPRs
- Wrote to municipal leaders across Massachusetts, highlighting the dangers of Flock and encouraging local officials to take steps to prevent external data sharing or cancel existing ALPR contracts and remove all cameras.
Canceled Contracts
- December 2025 — Cambridge's City Manager announces that the city would end its Flock contract.
- January 2026 — Watertown's City Manager announces that the city will cancel their existing Flock contract.
- January 2026 — Greenfield's Police Chief announces that the city will cancel their existing Flock contract.
- January 2026 — Natick Select Board orders the police department to opt out of a Flock pilot program.
- March 2026 — Attleboro ends its contract with Flock.
- June 2026 — Framingham Police Department declines to renew its contract with Flock.
Michigan
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Testified before Bay City commissioners, urging them to consider the lack of statewide safeguards on ALPR cameras. The commission ultimately voted 6-2 not to move forward with a Flock Safety contract.
- Testified multiple times on how ALPR's invade privacy with no limits on data sharing at Lapeer County meetings, which garnered public opposition to the technology, and resulted in the sheriff withdrawing his request to enter into a contract with Flock.
New York
Ongoing Advocacy
New York Civil Liberties Union
Advocacy
- Released a report detailing the drones deployed by state and local government agencies to surveil New Yorkers — including a program in the Village of Hempstead which would have integrated drone surveillance with Flock Safety's ALPR network, creating a state of total surveillance for Village residents. The report calls for subjecting these data collectors to public oversight.
Canceled Contracts
- August 2025 — Village of Scarsdale cancels its contract with Flock.
- December 2025 — Town Board of Poestenkill unanimously rejects a proposed contract with Flock.
- March 2026 — Village Board of Saranac Lake cancels its contract with Flock.
- March 2026 — Ithaca Common Council cancels its contract with Flock.
- March 2026 — Ithaca Common Council cancels its contract with Flock.
- March 2026 — Town Board of Pine Plains ends its use of Flock cameras.
Oklahoma
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- ACLU senior policy counsel Chad Marlow testified at an Oklahoma City town hall about the privacy risks posed by Flock Safety.
Oregon
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Participated in a legislative workgroup that reviewed ALPR safeguards which led to the introduction of SB 1516 — a bill to regulate the use of Automatic License Plate Readers.
- Joined with immigrant rights and privacy organizations to urge all cities and counties within Oregon to cancel their Flock contracts.
- Created a toolkit to help communities understand the risks of Flock cameras and provide tools and resources for how to take action locally.
Canceled Contracts
- December 2025 — Lane County Sheriff's Office suspends its Flock contract.
- December 2025 — Eugene Sheriff's Office cancels its Flock contract.
- December 2025 — Springfield Sheriff's Office cancels its Flock contract.
- January 2026 — Bend declines to renew its Flock contract.
- Washington County paused expansion of ALPR technology use.
Legal Action
- Sued the city of Eugene for failing to disclose public records on the city's operations of Flock cameras.
Rhode Island
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Created a toolkit to help communities understand the risks of Flock cameras and provide tools and resources for how to take action locally.
- Conducted a webinar on the spread of ALPRs in Rhode Island.
- Mailed over 500 letters to members explaining to them advocacy steps they can take to help stop the spread of Flock cameras in their communities.
Canceled Contracts
- December 2025 — Warren town council rejects a proposal to place Flock safety cameras in their town.
- January 2026 — Portsmouth town council rejects a proposal to place Flock safety cameras in their town.
Texas
Ongoing Advocacy
Canceled Contracts
- June 2025 — Austin City Council declines to renew their Flock contract.
Virginia
Ongoing Advocacy
Canceled Contracts
Washington
Ongoing Advocacy
Advocacy
- Worked with Community Partners to pass the Driver Privacy Act — a bill that regulates the use of ALPRs and protects driver data.