Privacy and accountability guide
Flock Safety privacy, data retention and safeguards
Privacy questions cannot be answered by a slogan. The meaningful details are what a particular product collects, how long the data remains available, who can search or share it, what records are logged, and how the agency is supervised under local law and policy.
Four questions to ask
A safeguard exists only if it is specific and enforced
Data collected
For the fixed LPR product, Flock and public-agency explainers describe a plate image, visible vehicle characteristics, time, and camera location. That product scope should not be confused with separate video, audio, drone, or third-party systems.
Retention
Flock describes 30 days as the default retention period for LPR observations. Local law, contracts, agency configuration, exports into evidence, and other legal requirements can produce different results.
Access and audit trails
Vendor and agency materials describe role-based access, required search purposes, activity logs, and audits. Whether those controls are consistently enforced is a local governance question, not something documentation alone can prove.
Sharing
Agencies can participate in sharing arrangements under their settings and policies. The relevant questions are which agencies can receive access, for what purpose, under what law, and how that access is reviewed or revoked.
Recurring claims, narrowed
What the available evidence does—and does not—support
“Flock’s license-plate readers scan people’s faces.”
Flock’s LPR documentation says the system searches vehicle information—not biometric face data. Municipal descriptions of the LPR deployment say the same.
“Every vehicle record is stored forever.”
Flock states that LPR observations are automatically deleted after a configured period and that 30 days is the default. Retention can differ when local law or an approved agency policy requires another period.
“A camera alert proves the driver committed a crime.”
An alert associates an observed plate with a list entry; it does not establish who is driving or determine guilt. Plate reads and underlying list entries must be independently checked by officers.
“There are no access controls or audit trails.”
Flock and multiple agencies describe role-based access, required search purposes, activity logs and audits. Those controls exist, but their quality and enforcement depend on the customer’s policy and supervision.
Source set
Compare policy with practice
- Flock Safety data-privacy documentation Vendor description of the LPR product, retention, access, and controls.
- New Bedford Police FAQ Agency-specific policy details; not a universal rule for every customer.
- WTOC on Chatham County transparency and audits Independent reporting with police and critical perspectives.
- ACLU critique of ALPR deployments Civil-liberties advocacy; treated as a critical perspective to evaluate.