Changes

Unfortunately, these systems are also prone to abuse. There have been many cases of those with access to Flock's tracing data, using it to stalk former romantic partners,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/02/flock-police-surveillance-tech-birds-iran-press-freedom</ref>, groups of children,<ref>https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/flock-safety-employees-watched-kids-151737512.html</ref> and others.<ref>https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/</ref><ref>https://lookout.co/georgia-police-chief-arrested-for-using-flock-cameras-for-stalking-and-harassment-searched-capitola-data-earlier-this-year/story</ref><ref>https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/police-ai-surveillance-stalking</ref>

Unfortunately, these systems are also prone to abuse. There have been many cases of those with access to Flock's tracing data, using it to stalk former romantic partners,<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/02/flock-police-surveillance-tech-birds-iran-press-freedom</ref>, groups of children,<ref>https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/flock-safety-employees-watched-kids-151737512.html</ref> and others.<ref>https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/</ref><ref>https://lookout.co/georgia-police-chief-arrested-for-using-flock-cameras-for-stalking-and-harassment-searched-capitola-data-earlier-this-year/story</ref><ref>https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/police-ai-surveillance-stalking</ref>

One defense of Flock's usage, is that each customer can purportedly only access the data their own leased Flock equipment collects. However, each customer has the option to share their data with other customers, which quickly spreads the access to each customer's data, across the country. As of 2026, we also now have federal agencies such as the FBI, attempting to access nationwide tracing data from Flock and/or competitors.<ref>https://govtribe.com/file/government-file/attachment-1-lpr-idiq-statement-of-work-dot-pdf</ref><ref>https://san.com/cc/ice-illegally-gains-informal-access-to-nationwide-license-plate-camera-network/</ref>

One defense of Flock's usage, is that each customer can purportedly only access the data their own leased Flock equipment collects. However, each customer has the option to share their data with other customers, which quickly spreads the access to each customer's data, across the country. As of 2026, we also now have federal agencies such as the FBI, attempting to access nationwide tracing data from Flock and/or competitors.<ref>https://govtribe.com/file/government-file/attachment-1-lpr-idiq-statement-of-work-dot-pdf</ref><ref>https://san.com/cc/ice-illegally-gains-informal-access-to-nationwide-license-plate-camera-network/</ref> The federal government has been gaining access to Flock data through their HIDTA program, exporting Flock-gathered data into their own databases which then get stored and shared at will. Since the DEA doe not reply to FOIA requests, the extent of their sharing is unknown.<ref>https://www.404media.co/how-cities-are-forced-to-funnel-license-plate-data-to-a-massive-federal-surveillance-program-hidta/</ref>

Surveillance systems also have a societal effect. It has been proven that law-abiding people, will still change their behaviors when they know they are being surveilled. This is not crime prevention, but rather a so-called "chilling affect." When people know their voice is being recorded and analyzed (by things like Flock Raven), they will avoid talking about certain things. When they know their movements are being tracked, they will avoid going certain places. There are other examples of this as well, but this overall influence is known to psychologists as the "Hawthorne effect."<ref>https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/hawthorne-effect</ref><ref>https://www.simplypsychology.org/hawthorne-effect.html</ref>

Surveillance systems also have a societal effect. It has been proven that law-abiding people, will still change their behaviors when they know they are being surveilled. This is not crime prevention, but rather a so-called "chilling affect." When people know their voice is being recorded and analyzed (by things like Flock Raven), they will avoid talking about certain things. When they know their movements are being tracked, they will avoid going certain places. There are other examples of this as well, but this overall influence is known to psychologists as the "Hawthorne effect."<ref>https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/hawthorne-effect</ref><ref>https://www.simplypsychology.org/hawthorne-effect.html</ref>