The next time you go for a drive, you might want to look up. The company that put thousands upon thousands of automated license plate readers in communities all over America is now putting them in the sky. Flock Alpha drones can travel at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, and they can read license plates from 2,000 feet away. These drones are being marketed as “first responders”, and they have the potential to be far more intrusive than automated license plate readers that are simply mounted on the side of the road.
Of course Flock automated license plate readers don’t just read license plates.
According to DeFlock, these highly sophisticated surveillance devices are actually “AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car’s location, date, and time”…
DeFlock, a national organization, says automated license plate readers (ALPRs or LPRs) are “AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car’s location, date, and time” and collect the data (which includes identifying details like dents or bumper stickers) “regardless or whether the driver is suspected of a crime.”
In addition, Flock cameras also make a record of the exact make, model, color and body type of your vehicle.
If your vehicle has any aftermarket modifications, roof racks, bumper stickers, decals or visible body damage all of that is recorded too.
Are you starting to understand why so many people consider these cameras to be extremely intrusive?
According to CNN, there are more than 120,000 Flock cameras actively operating in the United States right now.
All of the information that they collect is entered into a searchable national database that has so much potential to be abused.
And now Flock cameras will be flying around in the skies above our heads…
The company behind one of the nation’s largest roadway surveillance camera networks has expanded its technology into the skies.
Flock Safety’s Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), which have built a massive, interconnected surveillance net across American roadways, have officially taken their technology airborne, according to a MotorBiscuit report.
I was completely floored when I first learned about this.
Flock has partnered with an aviation software company to create a flying drone that is being marketed as a “first responder”…
After partnering with aviation software company Aerodome, Flock launched its “Drone as First Responder” (DFR) platform, expanding its surveillance network beyond fixed cameras.
Its autonomous Flock Alpha drone can launch from a weatherproof docking station in response to 911 calls, gunshot detection alerts or ALPR hits.
Officers can deploy the drone from a smartphone, and it can fly up to 60 mph, often arriving before patrol vehicles.
This is like something out of a science fiction movie.
In addition to being able to fly at speeds of up to 60 mph, these drones will also be able to read license plates from 2,000 feet away…
Alpha reads license plates from up to 2,000 feet away. Thermal and low-light optics remove guesswork.
Let me try to put that into perspective.
There are 5,280 feet in a mile.
So these drones will be able to watch you from almost half a mile away.
You might have no idea that it is even there, but it will still be monitoring what you are doing.
Try not to think about that too much.
And sometimes these cameras make enormous mistakes.
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For example, a prominent automotive journalist was recently pulled over by police after a Flock camera “mistakenly flagged the license plate of his vehicle as stolen”…
An automotive journalist is sharing his pulse-pounding story of being boxed in and temporarily detained by police in Minnesota after Flock cameras mistakenly flagged the license plate of his vehicle as stolen.
Joel Feder, director of content and product for The Drive, says the now-viral tale ultimately can be traced to human error. But he said the mix-up demonstrates why improvements are needed as police departments partner with Flock and its private network of AI-powered license plate readers.
“They need better guardrails,” Feder told “NewsNation Prime” on Saturday.
To say that they need better guardrails is a massive understatement.
In communities where these surveillance devices are installed, there is essentially no privacy on the roads at all.
A Flock camera could potentially flag you or your vehicle for any reason at all, and you could end up in a very uncomfortable encounter with the authorities as a result.
Of course sometimes these cameras are misused on purpose.
All over the country, there have been cases where police officers have used Flock cameras to stalk individuals that they are romantically interested in…
The proliferation of police surveillance has led to repeated abuse. One shockingly common form: police officers using ALPR camera networks to keep tabs on their romantic interests, including current partners, exes, and even strangers who unwittingly caught their eye in public.
An ongoing review of media reports and public records by the Institute for Justice has identified at least 28 cases nationwide of officers allegedly abusing ALPR data this way, with the bulk of those incidents happening since 2024. Nearly all of these officers were criminally charged and lost their jobs, either by resigning or getting fired.
Flock Safety and other ALPR providers emphasize that they have internal safeguards to prevent this kind of misuse. But only a few of the 28 analyzed cases were initially discovered through internal investigations, according to media reports. Most incidents came to light only after victims reported the officers’ behavior to the police, typically in the context of a broader stalking allegation.
This just keeps happening over and over again, and advocates for this sort of technology just keep making more excuses.
I am also deeply alarmed by the fact that there have been instances where members of the general public have actually been able to successfully access the live feeds of Flock cameras because they are so vulnerable…
In December 2025, a security researcher in Georgia noticed something unusual about Flock’s Condor cameras. He could watch their live feeds from his living room. No login. No password. Just an IP address and a web browser.
Benn Jordan and Jon “GainSec” Gaines identified 67 Flock Condor cameras streaming live, unencrypted video to the open internet. The feeds came from cameras mounted on traffic signals and utility poles. They captured footage of playgrounds, parking lots, shoppers on public streets, and people leaving their homes.
404 Media confirmed the findings independently. A reporter drove to a California traffic signal, opened his phone, and watched himself on camera in real time.
The vulnerability went beyond live feeds. Anyone with the IP address could download a full month of archived footage. They could also change device settings.
There are so many reasons why these deeply intrusive cameras are highly problematic.
But more Flock cameras just keep going up with each passing month.
And now they will be flying around in the sky.
Needless to say, Flock cameras are just one element of the Big Brother surveillance grid that is being constructed all around us.
Virtually everything that we do is being monitored, tracked and recorded.
If we do not stand up and object, pretty soon we will have virtually no privacy left at all.
Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
