Flock Safety Faces 82 Contract Losses as 5-Year Data Retention Fuels Surveillance Backlash
Updated
Updated · Fortune · Aug 23
Flock Safety Faces 82 Contract Losses as 5-Year Data Retention Fuels Surveillance Backlash
3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Aug 23
Summary
82 Flock contracts were terminated across 28 states between August 2021 and May 2026 as opposition widened to the company’s license-plate camera network, now active in more than 5,000 communities across 49 states.
A July LAPD audit sharpened those concerns, finding one agreement let Flock keep data for five years and use it at its own discretion—far beyond the company’s standard 30-day policy and its newly promoted 7-day default.
Misuse cases have added pressure: a Florida officer was arrested last week after more than 700 unauthorized searches for his estranged wife, while public databases and media reports have documented at least 150 abuse allegations nationwide.
Flock argues the system helps solve crimes—Providence police used more than 70 cameras to identify a Brown University shooting suspect’s rental car—and says customer growth still runs at 10 times churn.
The fight is expanding from city councils to courts and Congress, with privacy advocates arguing shared ALPR databases can reconstruct Americans’ movements and may require warrant protections.