Bottom Line Up Front
The City of Scottsdale has at least 85 AI-powered cameras run by Flock Safety that create a “vehicle fingerprint” of your vehicle, logging when you drive by one of them and storing the vehicle image along with a timestamp and location. The vehicle fingerprint goes into a searchable database, called “National Lookup”, that 4,800 users across the United States can access. The City retains your vehicle images and location data for 185 days. These cameras are deployed in every other state, creating a nationwide surveillance network that logs 20 billion vehicle scans per month. Despite these cameras’ capability to create heat maps of your daily travel patterns and dozens of other cities canceling their contracts with Flock Safety, Scottsdale City Council refuses to discuss it.
What are Flock cameras?
Flock license plate reader (LPR) cameras are part of a rapidly growing A.I. surveillance network that tracks the movements of millions of vehicles across the country. Mounted on poles, traffic lights, and in neighborhoods, these devices automatically scan and record license plates—capturing where a car is, when it was there, and detailed images of the vehicle itself.
What makes Flock LPRs especially alarming is its vast information-sharing system: Flock LPR data can be pooled from law enforcement agencies, private companies, employers, and HOAs, creating a powerful, centralized system capable of monitoring virtually anyone’s movements in real time or retroactively. Supporters dispute that Flock LPRs are a surveillance network, but Flock itself calls their system a “dynamic surveillance network” in their US Patent application.
This isn’t just local surveillance—it’s a nationwide tracking grid with little oversight. Police across the country can use the Flock network to track you without a warrant. Since Flock is not restricted to law enforcement, your employer, and HOA can also use Flock LPRs.
Flock’s “Vehicle Fingerprint” and “FreeForm” software, allows users to search for vehicles across Flock LPR and video cameras by searching for unique characteristics— like “white F-150 with a ladder in the back”, or “_____ 2024” political bumper stickers. Here is a screenshot of FreeForm in action:
The LPR cameras are extremely concerning, but what’s even more troubling is Flock’s perceived ambition to build an expansive AI-powered surveillance network, with LPRs being only one component. Flock has also developed an audio detection device called “Raven”, which listens for so-called “community disruptions.” With the combination of LPRs, Raven, and Flock’s partnership with Ring doorbell cameras, it’s clear what Flock’s ambition is.
Is Flock in Scottsdale?
Yes. There are 85 Flock cameras in Scottsdale according to a Scottsdale Progress interview with the Police Chief. Only after sustained pressure did the City finally share the number of installed cameras. You can see the locations of citizen-reported Flock cameras on this map, but here is a screenshot that illustrates how Scottsdale is completely saturated with Flock LPRs:
Scottsdale admitted in this public records request that they participate in Flock’s “National Lookup” meaning that other Flock users across the entire United States can use Scottsdale’s Flock cameras to track you. The City can use this same feature to track you outside of Scottsdale using Flock’s surveillance network. Scottsdale keeps this data for 185 days, meaning that any one of Flock’s 4,800 National Lookup users can see where you’ve been driving for the past 6 months. There are thousands of cameras outside of Scottsdale, so when you take a short trip outside of the City and drive past a Flock LPR, the City–and the other 4,800 National Lookup users–can see that.
Flock Safety, the company behind these LPR’s, has a questionable history regarding its LPR practices. They had to retract previous statements that they do not share data with the Federal government, have “inadvertently” turned cameras back on after orders to turn them off, and have made inconsistent statements to police chiefs about the system’s capabilities.
A search for “Flock” or “license plate reader” yields zero results across the past three years of Scottsdale City Council agendas and minutes. The City failed to engage with its citizens before implementation of this mass surveillance tool.
Is there hope?
Yes. There have been many successful efforts to eliminate Flock LPR programs and they all have depended on citizens contacting their City Council.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing to do is to click the button below to send an email to City Council. Please feel free to modify the pre-drafted template.
The second most important thing to do is to email us so that we can let you know of important City Council votes. You can either fill out this form or email us directly at [email protected].
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