Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

[usonian]

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/23/americans-are-destroying-flock-surveillance-cameras/

Brian Merchant, writing for Blood in the Machine, reports that people across the United States are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras, amid rising public anger that the license plate readers aid U.S. immigration authorities and deportations.

Flock is the Atlanta-based surveillance startup valued at $7.5 billion a year ago and a maker of license plate readers. It has faced criticism for allowing federal authorities access to its massive network of nationwide license plate readers and databases at a time when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are increasingly relying on data to raid communities as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Flock cameras allow authorities to track where people go and when by taking photos of their license plates from thousands of cameras located across the United States. Flock claims it doesn’t share data with ICE directly, but reports show that local police have shared their own access to Flock cameras and its databases with federal authorities.

snip

Merchant reports instances of broken and smashed Flock cameras in La Mesa, California ... Other cases of vandalism have stretched from California and Connecticut, to Illinois and Virginia. In Oregon, six license plate scanning cameras on poles were cut down and at least one spray painted. A note left at the base of the severed poles said, “Hahaha get wrecked ya surveilling fucks,” reports Merchant.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. And they deserve to be wrecked. Sharing this data is wrong.

[RockRaven]

2. Both the company and the governments which use the company constantly violate

their stated rules/policies around privacy/data usage. Neither the company nor the law enforcement nor the elected civilians keep their word about what they will do or allow. Multiple municipalities in my area have been in the news as case examples of such.

So, when it comes to the topic of this article... "Quelle surprise"

[bucolic_frolic]

3. There's a little Boston Tea Party in most American DNA /nt

[Prairie Gates]

4. Sabotage is nonviolent

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[Duncan Grant]

5. My internet footprint hasn't alerted me to Blood In The Machine.

Tech isn’t my wheelhouse, but I enjoyed reading Blood in the Machine (BITM). I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve heard of them. Thanks for posting. BITM will be a good addition to my sources list — when looking into current events.