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Flock camera backlash turns into takedowns
Pushback against Flock Safety is escalating from contract cancellations to direct action against its camera poles and sensors.
Image: Gizmodo
Backlash against Flock Safety is moving fast. After pressure from activist groups, the LAPD said this week it will let its three-year contract with Flock expire, and other city councils around the US are also ending contracts and removing existing cameras.
Flock, a $7.5 billion startup, sells AI-powered license plate-scanning surveillance cameras mounted on poles. Privacy groups including the EFF and ACLU have long argued that these automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) enable mass surveillance, giving government agencies access to large pools of data with too few safeguards against abuse.
Flock says it does not share data with ICE, but critics argue that assurance offers little comfort as fears grow that the systems could still support Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The concern is not limited to ICE: activists point to broader cooperation between local police departments and federal agencies, along with what they describe as well-documented side-door access to surveillance data.
In places where officials continue deploying the cameras, some opponents have turned to vandalism. Using the open-source site deflock.org, which has mapped more than 116,000 ALPRs, activists reportedly locate cameras and disable them with portable saws to cut metal poles or 532 nm green lasers aimed at camera sensors.
The campaign has also developed an online culture of its own. Gizmodo reports that videos of destroyed Flock cameras have spread across social media, while the r/FlockSurveillance subreddit has grown to 437,000 subscribers. Users there share tactics, circulate memes, and raise money for legal defense funds for arrested activists.
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Flock CEO Garrett Langley, in a November 2025 interview with Forbes, called the vandals and Deflock a “terrorist organization” whose “primary motivation is chaos.” According to Gizmodo, Forbes reporter Tom Brewster responded with a chuckle and suggested Deflock might object to that description.
Security Editor
Sophia unpacks the invisible wars happening on our networks. Covering cybersecurity, privacy legislation, and cryptography, she exposes how our data is weaponized and defended. Before joining for(geeks), she spent years as a penetration tester. She's the reason the rest of the team uses physical security keys.
via Gizmodo
