See if license plate readers are in your neighborhood
A woman in Colorado was falsely accused of theft because a Flock camera that looks like the one in the image above spotted her car near the scene. She wasn’t even close. She had to dig up dashcam footage, GPS, even her outfit to prove it. The charges were dropped, but the stress? Very real.
These Flock cameras and license plate readers are popping up everywhere. One wrong ping and suddenly, you’re guilty until proven innocent. These are private cameras, installed by HOAs, apartment complexes and businesses, all connected to police departments and searchable databases.
They scan every license plate that passes by, recording where and when, the make and model of the car, and sometimes the driver’s behavior.
📍 Your every move, logged
Flock cameras scan billions of plates each month. And while they’ve been used to recover stolen cars and even solve murders, they’ve also raised serious privacy red flags. There have been documented cases where police, and in some instances, rogue employees, used the system to track people for personal reasons. Yikes.
You don’t have to break the law to get caught in the net.
Drive a borrowed car, switch plates or happen to match a vehicle description? You could be flagged, followed or questioned.
🔎 See if your neighborhood’s being watched
- Visit deflock.me. This volunteer-run map shows known Flock camera locations. Plug in your ZIP code and take a look. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best peek we have right now.
- Look around you. Those black boxes with a solar panel? Bingo.
- Ask your local PD or city. Straight up, “Do you use license plate readers from Flock or anyone else?”
- Dig into data policy. Who gets your plate info? How long is it stored? Is it shared with other agencies?
This tech is growing fast. And it’s not going away. I’d love to know what you think. When you rate the newsletter today, leave me a note. I really do read them.
📸 This isn’t just about my neighborhood, it’s about yours, too. These cameras are spreading, and most people have no idea what they do. Hit the share icons below to send this to your group chat, neighborhood thread or Facebook feed. If they’re not in your ZIP code yet, they might be soon.
Tags: cameras, Facebook, love, privacy, tech
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