The trouble with Flock cameras is the surveillance system’s architecture, not just some of its users

An investigation found a Georgia police chief searched his ex-girlfriend's license plates roughly 600 times through Flock Safety's camera network before his arrest on stalking charges; the Washington Post has since identified roughly 100 police employees accused of misusing the system, 26 of them to spy on partners or people they hoped to date.

The piece documents a Texas sheriff's office running over 83,000 camera searches for a woman believed to have had an abortion, a search that reached into Illinois despite that state barring data-sharing for out-of-state abortion enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection accessing more than 80,000 cameras in an undisclosed pilot, including at least one department's cameras without its knowledge.

Flock has shortened recommended data retention and added misuse-detection requirements, but customers can retain data longer and emergencies can bypass case-code documentation; courts remain split on whether warrantless access to the network violates the Fourth Amendment.

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