DeFlock Polk, FL

AI Systems Are Building Detailed Profiles on Everyone in Polk County.

Learn what's collected and how to fight back.

Visit DeFlock.org

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:

Flock Pole Camera
Flock Mobile Security Trailer
Flock on Back of Traffic Pole

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/sheriffs 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 brans include Axon, Motorola Solutions, Leonardo, Genetec, and Neology. Learn how to identify different ALPRs.

The Polk County Sheriffs 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

01

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 grants 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.

02

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.

03

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.

04

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.

05

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.

06

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 + Some Not So Fun Facts

This section is under construction. In the interim, please take some time to read the following:

Take Action & Get Involved

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!

***IMPORTANT NOTE: The proposed Polk County budget will be officially presented to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) in July and become available to the public after the July Commission meeting. The Board then holds two required public hearings to approve the final budget in September.

NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO CONTACT THE COMMISSIONERS TO EDUCATE THEM ABOUT FLOCK AND ASK ABOUT HOW MUCH OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN THE SHERIFF'S BUDGET ARE BEING ALLOCATED TO FLOCK!

Commissioners voting on a budget with funds possibly designated to Flock is noteworthy and certainly something we will be tracking. It's currently unclear how much funding is allocated in PCSO budget for Flock or other ALPR cameras, as PCSO consistently refuses to provide this information citing public records law exemptions. It's also difficult to discern anything from their current (and heavily pixelated) budget posted on the website.

Email the Polk County Commissioners: BeckyTroutman@polkfl.gov; RickWilson@polkfl.gov; BillBraswell@polkfl.gov; MarthaSantiago@polkfl.gov; MichaelScott@polkfl.gov

Additional Things You Can Do

Website Works in Progress --> 1) Timeline/What We Know About Polk County ALPR Participation So Far 2) Build Out Resources & Get Involved Pages
Questions? Want to help supply documents and research about ALPR's 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