Flock's silence means municipalities are now removing its cameras themselves

Date:
Mon, 02 Nov 2026 14:11:33 +0000

Description:
A Virginia county has been forced to remove dozens of Flock cameras as the surveillance-tech firm goes silent following contract cancellations.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Henrico County in Virginia was forced to remove Flock cameras by hand Officials say the company is failing
to fulfil its contractual obligation A growing number of police forces are cancelling contracts with Flock Work crews in a Virginia county have removed more than 120 Flock cameras after officials said the surveillance tech
company had failed to fulfil its contractual obligation to remove them.

An image obtained by news outlet 12 On Your Side shows a pile of cameras and solar panels that were collected after Henrico County ended its contract with Flock in early October over privacy concerns. Reportedly, the poles upon
which the cameras were mounted still remain, as crews claimed Flock has to remove these itself. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

The removal of the automatic license plate reading technology comes as public trust wanes, and concerns over privacy continue to grow.

Plymouth, Massachusetts also canceled its contract with Flock cameras after a high-profile case involving a motoring journalist made national news. You may like Florida cops turn up 11 unauthorized Flock cameras of unknown origin Hackers just extracted a scary amount of data from a downed flock camera Both Florida and Texas are cutting back on Flock camera coverage

Joel Feder, a writer for The Drive , was ambushed by police when the license plate of the $155,000 Range Rover he was test driving was flagged as belong
to a stolen vehicle.

The car belonged to Jaguar Land Rover's media fleet. According to Feder, the police had used Flocks camera system to track the journalist down over a number of days. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign
up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

A very similar license plate on another Jaguar Land Rover media vehicle was also falsely flagged by the Flock system in Nebraska only a few days later, leading to another journalist facing lengthy questioning over the vehicle.

Plymouth Police Chief Eric Fadden told The Drive that the City Council voted to discontinue using the Flock system in September of this year.

Fadden stated that the police force did not hear any reply from Flock Safety Corporate or Legal, other than some communication with our local representative. What to read next Hackers find 1.6 million images on a single Flock camera, with easily beaten encryption Defiant Flock CEO says 'we shouldn't pause progress' of its ALPR cameras Flock CEO says 'we're not Big Brother' in the face of surveillance claims

As a result of the lack of communication, he subsequently directed staff to disconnect the power cords from the cameras, according to The Drive.

However, the cameras remain the property of Flock, and both Henrico County
and Plymouth are still waiting for a response from the company as to when
they will be collected. Analysis: controversy refuses to go away (Image credit: Getty Images) Flocks automated license plate recognition cameras have caused plenty of controversy in the past few months, with stories surfacing
of police department misuse , hackers gaining access to millions of images, and general concern over personal privacy.

Some people have been taking matters into their own hands by disabling
cameras , while a number of software companies have been mapping the location of the cameras to help drivers avoid them.

MapQuest enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after it added a new
Surveillance Layer to its app, showing the location of cameras from Flock, as well as those from rival companies.

But during the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 event last month, Flocks CEO Garrett Langley said we shouldnt "pause progress in the face of privacy concerns.If
we want to live in a society where, if you commit a crime, you have a higher probability of being held accountable, we shouldnt pause progress, he said.

Many privacy advocate groups have raised concerns over Flocks technology, including the recent news that it was capable of processing ambient audio in order to determine screams, gunshots and even car crashes before alerting emergency services.

Flock pulled its plans to implement that particular feature, owing to suggestions from consumer rights groups that it could be classed as "mass surveillance", but a huge amount of public mistrust remains. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech/hybrid-electric-vehicles/work-crews-rem ove-120-defunct-flock-cameras-in-us-county-after-company-fails-to-fulfil-contr actual-obligations


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