Flock adds privacy controls to plate readers after court order

Flock, the police‑tech company that runs a nationwide network of roughly 120,000 automatic license‑plate readers (ALPRs), announced on Thursday that it will roll out a suite of platform updates designed to tighten privacy controls and curb the risk of data misuse. The changes will be deployed over the next two months and apply to all of the company’s client systems, which are used by more than 2,000 law‑enforcement agencies across the United States.

The move comes after a wave of lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny that has put the industry under a microscope. In 2022 the ACLU sued Flock over the company’s data‑retention practices, arguing that the system stored license‑plate images for too long and allowed law‑enforcement agencies to request bulk data without oversight. A federal judge in 2023 ruled that the company must implement stricter controls, and several states have since passed laws limiting the use of ALPRs. Flock’s new updates include a 30‑day retention limit, end‑to‑end encryption, a built‑in audit trail, and a “privacy dashboard” that lets departments see who accessed which data and why.

Law‑enforcement agencies will need to update their software and train staff on the new controls, a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars for smaller departments. Flock says the updates will help it meet emerging federal privacy guidelines and restore public trust in its technology. Civil‑liberties groups remain skeptical, calling for a nationwide ban on bulk data requests and stronger independent oversight. If the changes are adopted widely, they could set a new industry standard for ALPR use, but the debate over surveillance versus public safety is far from over.