Flock Is Cancelled—And Their Competitors Are Profiting
“If you want to get in your car and you want to go down to Buc-ee’s in St. Augustine, it’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that, right?” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday at a news conference. He announced that Florida will revoke all law enforcement license-plate-recognition camera permits on […]
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a plan on Monday to revoke all law enforcement license-plate-recognition camera permits on state highways, with removal to be completed by the end of September. DeSantis expressed concerns over the establishment of a digital AI surveillance state, where every action is continuously tracked.
These Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras, while designed to catch criminals, can also be abused, leading to officers losing their jobs or facing criminal charges for excessive searches. Texas has followed suit by instructing state agencies to halt funding for Flock cameras. The advocacy group Secure Justice reported a surge in cities cancelling Flock contracts in August 2026, with 90 out of 214 cities making the decision.
Critics argue that strictly regulating data retention could limit police ability to share information with ICE. Other ALPR vendors, such as Motorola, Rekor, and Axon, are not facing the same level of backlash. Rekor, in particular, advocates for national regulations to preserve the technology's public safety value, including anonymizing non-hotlist plate data.
However, concerns remain about the potential for abuse, even with different-looking cameras that perform the same surveillance function.
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