Americans increasingly live their lives on camera. Problem is, it’s not their cameras but governments, companies, and other private owners who may not always protect privacy.
Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #277 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.
Flock cameras seem to be the new topic du jour. Flock cameras, “'license plate' readers that are capable of doing so much more, …are popping up like mushrooms on poles in what seems like every town in the country.”
Flock cameras generally refer to surveillance cameras made by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company founded in 2017. They are best known for “automated license-plate readers (ALPRs),” although Flock now sells a broader public-safety system that includes video cameras, gunshot detection and drones.
The common Flock camera is a pole-mounted, solar-powered camera that automatically photographs passing vehicles. It uses AI/computer vision to record things such as, license plate number, vehicle make and model, vehicle color, vehicle characteristics and identifying features, and time and location of the sighting. Police can then search the resulting database—e.g., looking for a particular plate, a vehicle matching a description, or vehicles seen near the location of a crime.
Flock Safety says the cameras do not use facial recognition. The system is primarily tracking vehicles and their movements rather than identifying people's faces. But the public is not ready to believe this, and of course, a software upgrade could change this in a day.
Public reaction to flock cameras ranks right up there with the anti-data center and anti-nuclear power movements. A senior in Florida sat near a flock camera pole holding a twelve-foot pool skimmer, using the screen to block the camera. Passers-by brought him snacks, an umbrella, and drinks. The fellow said, “I have a constitutional right to my privacy. I’m a law-abiding citizen, and I don’t need anyone sticking their nose in my business. And if they do, I’m going to chop it off.”
No question flock cameras can be used illicitly, and given the fallen nature of mankind, if it’s possible to misuse a device, it will happen. A Florida police officer was arrested for using a flock camera to t rack his estranged wife 717 times. “4 Georgia state troopers…have been fired after reportedly committing felony fraud…They made at least $100,000 filing fraudulent personal injury lawsuits after conducting pit maneuvers on fleeing vehicles despite not actually being injured in any way.”
“While Flock cameras are labeled as ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers), Flock is much more than that and capable of tracking cars across cities and even states. It builds ‘fingerprints’ of vehicles and stores data for law enforcement to access or use to alert on the location of vehicles. Not only is it a staggering amount of surveillance data that they can pull and store, but there have already been instances of it being used by people with access to databases for stalking. There have also been incidents of the Flock system flagging innocent people as criminals and aggressive traffic stops being initiated. The larger concern shown by citizens, though, is that a detailed mass surveillance and tracking system is a substantial erosion of privacy with serious civil rights implications. Currently, Flock scans over 20 billion cars per month, and the pushback from citizens is turning into big rejections by cities.”
“Several municipalities in CT are ‘turning off’ their Flock cameras in response to what one Freedom of Information Act request revealed. The problem - the towns don't control/own the cameras nor the data they collect so they can't turn them off. They can instruct their employees to not access them but Flock, a private company funded ‘almost exclusively’…by taxpayer dollars, owns the devices and the data.”
Privacy in an increasingly camera-intensive surveillance society feels like Big Brother is watching you. “This surveillance is always on…It's recording everyone, not just ‘suspects.’…Flock adds another dot to the board if someone in power ever decides to connect those dots.”
“There is a reasonable argument that the cell phone in your pocket or purse is doing every bit, if not more, surveillance of your movements and personal life than the Flock cameras on a pole in town. But one can voluntarily leave the cell phone at home. So, the question arises: how much of a surveillance state are we willing to tolerate?”
Flock Safety CEO, Garrett Langley, argues “Americans must ‘compromise’ on their privacy.” Really? Who said he gets to decide?
The company faces a growing public outcry around concerns that Flock’s surveillance cameras, drones, and license plate recognition technology could be misused. “These concerns aren’t just hypothetical. The Washington Post recently identified 46 cases where police officers have been accused of using Flock technology for unauthorized purposes.”
Meanwhile, usage of the new technology has skyrocketed since its inception in 2017. In August 2026, Flock's network placed more than 120,000 cameras, operating in more than 6,000 communities across 49 states.
The best current estimate is that more than 176 Michigan cities and counties are using Flock Safety/automated license-plate-reader systems. Detroit is using approximately 282 flock cameras. Dearborn 84. Wyoming 49. Flint 47. Kentwood 27. Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids stand at 48 flock cameras each. Systems are also operated by entities such as the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, businesses such as Lowe's and Meijer, and other organizations.
But “more than 50 agencies or communities have canceled, suspended or rejected a Flock contract or deactivated their cameras since the beginning of 2026…
Civil liberties advocates say some of the safeguards touted by Flock Safety have been tried before and question whether the company’s changes address broader concerns about a system that can create a record of people’s movements even when they are not suspected of a crime.”
Aside from Flock cameras, municipalities can simultaneously use:
1. Traditional CCTV — continuously records or streams video.
2. Traffic cameras — operated by MDOT/local governments for traffic management.
3. Red-light/traffic-enforcement cameras where authorized.
4. Project Green Light/private cameras — privately owned cameras whose feeds can be integrated with police.
5. Businesses' cameras that police can request footage from.
6. School cameras and other government cameras.
7. Body cameras and dash cameras, which are another category entirely.
So, pushback or not regarding Flock vehicle cameras, I’ve shared podcasts before about the mass surveillance, track-and-trace, digital society in which we now live. Likely, there is not a week goes by that you and I are not recorded somehow someway in what we view, read, purchase online, perhaps where we go. Maybe not a day goes by that we are not under a camera when we are out on our daily routine.
Atlanta is the most surveilled U.S. city per capita. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in August 2026 that Atlanta has more than 60,000 public and private surveillance cameras connected to law enforcement, and roughly one camera for every eight residents. This includes public CCTV, transportation cameras, traffic cameras, school cameras, private cameras accessible to police, and other surveillance infrastructure.
China has developed a much more centralized and pervasive surveillance ecosystem, combining enormous numbers of cameras with facial recognition, government databases, identification systems and other technologies. In the US right now, CCTV → AI video analytics → facial recognition → ALPR/Flock → private-camera networks → police real-time crime centers → federal databases. Unlike in China, these systems do not form one unified surveillance system, but they could be interconnected.
The technology doesn't have political values, but the people controlling the system do. Citizens increasingly become legible to the state, while the state remains comparatively opaque to citizens. A surveillance system built for legitimate purposes today doesn't necessarily remain confined to those purposes forever. Surveillance becomes a tool of psychological domination.
So, in the days ahead, personal privacy vs. security and safety will increasingly be an issue we must watch and evaluate in an open, free, pluralistic society.
Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more Christian commentary, see my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com, or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers.
And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2026
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