AI Systems Are Building Detailed Profiles on Everyone in Polk County.
In Polk County, Florida, Flock "Safety" Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) are popping up on our highways, in our cities, outside of our neighborhoods, and even in remote rural orange grove farming areas. These AI-powered cameras capture and analyze images of ALL passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, time, car make, model, color, dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers... turning these identifiers into searchable data points. Flock ALPRs are all over Polk County, and they look like this:
These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime. These systems are marketed as vital tools to fight crime, but they ignore the powerful tools police already have to track criminals (like cell phone location data), creating a loophole that doesn't require a warrant. Flock Safety is one of the largest ALPR vendors in the United States, and their cameras are installed for police/sheriff's departments, businesses, and HOAs in our area. The vehicle data captured by the cameras is uploaded to Flock's cloud system, where participating agencies can search and share information about you and track your movements across jurisdictions. Other popular ALPR brands include Axon, Motorola Solutions, Leonardo, Genetec, and Neology. Learn how to identify different ALPRs.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), city police departments, and several towns throughout Polk County maintain active contracts with Flock. DeFlock Polk's mission is simple: gather information, shine a light on the widespread use of ALPR technology, raise awareness about the threats it poses to personal privacy and civil liberties, and empower our neighbors to take action by advocating for ALPR removal.The Dangers of ALPRs
Privacy Violations and Security Risks
ALPRs track your movements and store your data for long periods of time, creating a detailed record of your location history. Flock’s standard agreements reportedly grant a “worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license” for the company to disclose data from their network and there's a well-documented history of weak security practices or other safeguards, raising questions about hacking & foreign-spy risk.
Risk of Misuse
Data from ALPRs has led to wrongful arrests, profiling, and stalking of ex-partners and romantic interests by police officers. Innocent people may also risk being placed on a hotlist without their knowledge, leading to more interactions with law enforcement, despite never having committed a crime.
Capturing More Than Just License Plates
ALPR photos can be used to identify surroundings, the amount of people in the car, and their identities. Location data can be used to track your visits to religious centers, churches, protests, health clinics, gun stores and other areas often targeted for insight into your beliefs, politics, and health.
AI Enabled and AI Powered
The Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera's AI, a feature of Flock drones and certain pole cameras, can follow you when you get out of your car AND zoom in close enough to see what you're viewing on your phone via a live feed (Flock Condor). The Flock Raven maintains 24/7 audio surveillance for loud sounds or "human voices in distress." The Raven is always listening, making private conversations a thing of the past.
Mobile Trailer Placements
Mobile Security Trailers: Portable camera network trailers can expand coverage overnight, target areas already subjected to racial profiling or over-policing, normalize blanket monitoring, and generate false alerts without any known oversight.
High Cost with Unconfirmed "Benefits"
ALPR hardware, software, and data about your movements are owned by a private company which leases access back to law enforcement, often under multi-year contracts totaling hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars... and paid for using your tax dollars. Even worse, there's no substantial evidence that ALPRs effectively prevent crime, despite Flock's unethical attempts to prove otherwise.
Why It Matters & The Not-So-Fun Facts
False Suspicion is a Local Liability
Systems generate suspect lists from patterns, known associates, and other data. If you pass or drive through a "hot spot" area, you're more likely to end up in a police encounter, reinforcing a culture of mistrust and preemptive suspicion. A July 2026 study published by the Institute of Justice (Dozens of Innocent Motorists Have Been Pulled Over, Detained at Gunpoint, or Jailed Due to AI License Plate Camera Errors) shows that "in nearly two-thirds of the cases IJ analyzed, officers did not realize an error with the ALPR data until after they had drawn and pointed their guns at innocent people." Who takes responsibility? Not Flock. The city, county, or state assume all liability.
Targeted Control Without Consent
It doesn't matter if you "aren't doing anything wrong." Flock's cameras capture detailed information about the daily lives of everyone passing by, without offering a genuine opt-out mechanism. The pervasive nature of such surveillance systems means that individuals are monitored without explicit consent, and the data collected can be repurposed beyond its original intent. (Example: An Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is a lot less anonymous when thousands of unknown users nationwide can now track your movement patterns.) Can you still call it a "private life" if all of your movements are being stored in a database for 30-90 days?
No Transparency OR Security
Over time, Flock's "Transparency Portals" are providing less information, making it difficult to address potential misuse. Security, data breaches, and hacks have already occurred, but so far Flock has refused to meaningfully address security issues. If misconfigured, cameras can be exposed to the open internet, allowing strangers to watch you and your family's movements. (RedSpeed cameras, often deployed for school zones, have Flock integration capabilities.) There are also several stories confirming Flock has already shared your information with the federal government despite communities opting out of sharing that data. Surveillance does not make us safer or more secure.
Get Involved & Take Action
Worried about mass surveillance and ALPRs? Join the movement to protect privacy in Polk County, Florida! We're working on a comprehensive guide for this, but for now, here's some things you can do to get involved and spread the word!
NOW IS THE TIME TO: 1) SET AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR COMMISSIONER 2) ATTEND A PUBLIC COMMISSION MEETING & PROVIDE A PUBLIC COMMENT AND 3) EMAIL ALL COMMISSIONERS!
Seek to educate. Ask questions about ALPR budget funding. (It's currently unclear how much funding is allocated to Flock or other ALPRs in PCSO budget.) Let them know that the public has genuine concerns about Flock ALPRs, and voting in favor of a budget with funds designated for Flock ALPRs is something many will be tracking moving forward.
Email the Polk County Commissioners: BeckyTroutman@polkfl.gov; RickWilson@polkfl.gov; BillBraswell@polkfl.gov; MarthaSantiago@polkfl.gov; MichaelScott@polkfl.govAdditional Things You Can Do
- Contact your Elected Officials (usa.gov/elected-officials) to voice your concerns.
- Attend a commission meeting (you must fill out a physical "Request to Speak" card in person before the meeting begins) and ask questions about retention and sharing policies. (This includes: What data is collected and by who has access? Just local law enforcement or a national network? What safeguards exist? Are warrants required? Audit logs maintained? What are the deletion policies? Is a “SafeList” setting available and how is it determined who ends up on the SafeList?)
- Request public audit logs of who is accessing the system and when. Or request public records from other state agencies such as local code enforcement or the Florida Department of Transportation for information about the installation and safety of current camera placements. Check out our Request Public Records page to learn more!
- Request public records from other state agencies such as local code enforcement or the Florida Department of Transportation for information about the installation and safety of current camera placements. Check out our Request Public Records page to learn more!
- Share this website on socials, and DeFlock's very scary ALRP map with neighbors, local journalists, and community groups who may be interested in contributing to a public records repository.
- Locate and document camera locations on DeFlock.org
- Download the Flock Hopper App and see if you can avoid ALPRs during your travels!
- Check out other anti-ALPR projects you can support. Or start your own!
Website Works in Progress -->
Questions? Want to help supply documents and research about ALPRs in Polk County, FL? (Or perhaps you want to come forward and share how these systems are really used behind the scenes like this guy did?) Email: deflockpolkfl@proton.me