Watching the Watchers
"If you're reading this, you likely noticed the sign and maybe a camera. Here is the deal: that camera is private. Its data is not shared with the government, it is not searchable by a national database, and it will never be public. It is here to prove a point. We have been told by our local officials that 'you have no expectation of privacy on a public road.' Based on that logic, law enforcement across Virginia has spent millions of tax dollars on a massive, secretive surveillance network called Flock Safety.
Founded in 2017, Flock has rapidly scaled into a national dragnet, performing over 20 billion vehicle scans every month across 49 states. Their cameras—often hidden in plain sight on solar poles—capture what they call a 'Vehicle Fingerprint.' They don’t just record your license plate; they log your car’s color, make, model, and even identifying stickers or roof racks. This data is stored for 21 days in a database that the general public is legally barred from seeing. We believe that if the government can use our public roads to build a secret map of our private lives, the balance of power has shifted too far. This website is here to expose the reach of that network and help you reclaim your right to the road."
In America, we are entitled to live our lives without being followed, indexed, or searched by the state unless there is a specific reason to believe we’ve committed a crime. This isn't just a "feeling"—it is the bedrock of our legal system.
The Fourth Amendment protects us against "unreasonable searches and seizures." For decades, the government has argued that since a car is in "plain view" on a public street, recording it isn't a search.However, the Supreme Court has begun to push back using what is known as the Mosaic Theory (United States v. Jones, 2012). The court argued that while a single snapshot of a car might be public, the aggregate data of every trip you take over several weeks creates a "mosaic" of your life. This data reveals your religious affiliations, your medical visits, your political meetings, and your private associations.“A person traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one place to another... [but] society's expectation has been that law enforcement agents... would not—and indeed, in the main, simply could not—secretly monitor and catalogue every single movement of an individual's car for a very long period.” — Justice Alito, US v. Jones
Our state constitution is even more explicit about "general warrants"—searches that target everyone in hopes of finding someone.
Section 10 states: "That general warrants, whereby an officer... may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed... are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted."
By scanning every car that passes—innocent or not—Flock cameras act as a digital "General Warrant." They are searching everyone on the road "without evidence of a fact committed," waiting for the computer to find a reason to flag them.
The "Right to Travel" is a fundamental liberty interest. When the government logs every trip you take, it creates a "chilling effect." If you know your movements are being permanently recorded and shared across a national network, you are no longer truly "free to roam." You are roaming on a leash.
A: This isn’t about having something to hide; it’s about having a life to live without government oversight. There is a massive difference between a police officer seeing a car on the road and a private company building a "pattern of life" database. When the government knows every time you visit a doctor, a church, or a political rally, they aren't just looking for criminals—they are monitoring the entire law-abiding population. Privacy is a right, not a privilege for the guilty.
A: We all want kidnapped children found and car thieves caught. However, we shouldn't have to trade the privacy of 30,000 innocent residents for the chance to catch one criminal. There are more "constitutional" ways to solve crimes—like targeted warrants—that don't involve a 24/7 dragnet of every citizen. Furthermore, many departments haven't provided any independent data proving these cameras actually lower crime rates long-term.
A: Exactly. That’s the point. My camera is here to show you how easy it is to be watched. The difference is that my camera is a protest, and I don't have the power to arrest you, put you on a "Hot List," or share your data with a national network of thousands of law enforcement agencies. If my camera makes you feel uncomfortable, you should be a hundred times more concerned about the ones the government is hiding in plain sight.
A: Since Virginia law keeps this surveillance secret, the only solution is to demand its total removal.
A: Yes. In Virginia, it is legal to record what is visible from your own property into the public right-of-way. We are using our First Amendment right to protest and our property rights to highlight a Fourth Amendment concern. We are following the exact same "public space" rules that the Sheriff uses to justify the Flock system.
Venture into the vulnerabilities of Flock and the lack of privacy they provide
If you live in the United States, it's very likely that a private startup has been logging and sharing your vehicle's location without your consent.
Full encompassing video of what Flock is as well as how its being challenged in Norfolk. This goes over alot and is the most comprehensive.
9NEWS questions the CEO of Flock Safety over mass surveillance concerns and access by federal officials who have used the network for immigration enforcement.
Sandy Springs has terminated Reserve Sgt. Francis Esposito, after an internal investigation, was found to have used the city’s camera system for personal gain and may have engaged in corporate espionage.
On Sept. 27, a Columbine Valley police officer came to Chrisanna Elser’s door and issued her a summons to appear in court, accusing her of stealing a $25 package in the town of Bow Mar. She told FOX31's Anna Coon about what transpired after that.
Police detained and handcuffed a black mother and four children after mistaking their SUV for a stolen motorcycle from another state.
A Milwaukee police officer is accused of using the department's Flock Safety license plate reader system to track someone he was dating
