Flock tightens license plate search rules

Flock, which operates about 120,000 ALPR/ANPR cameras across the U.S., introduced a mandatory case number for searches on August 13, 2026, and reduced the recommended data retention period from 30 to 7 days, but case numbers are not verified, so an officer can enter a fabricated one.

Compiled by Sergey KostenchukPublished 2026-08-17Updated 2026-09-18

2026-08-17 Safety

🛡 Flock tightens license plate search rules

Flock (about 120,000 ALPR/ANPR cameras across the U.S.) introduced a mandatory case number for searches on August 13, marking of anomalous requests, and reduced the recommended data retention period from 30 to 7 days — agencies can store longer.

🌍 MIT Technology Review: case numbers are not verified — an officer can insert a fabricated one. This sets a de facto standard for the police surveillance market: corporate safety measures without verification do not pass, real restrictions go into legislation (storage, access, sharing).

👤 The Washington Post documented 50 cases of abuse of Flock and similar systems by police officers for stalking, including a Wisconsin officer who searched for his ex's car 179 times. According to the company, 90% of searches fall in the first week after an incident.

Source 1: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/17/1142200/what-flocks-defenders-are-missing/

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