Detector may not flag lying cops
Another change that Flock introduced to help solve the stalker cop problem includes requiring case numbers for searches. However, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Saira Hussain, told SFGate that it seems trivially easy for cops to get around that requirement without triggering the audit assistance tool. A motivated bad actor could seemingly lie and give any case number, then conduct searches related to stalking romantic partners without triggering suspension, she suggested.
“That’s a significant concern, and I don’t think you, as Flock, are going to be able to tech your way out of it,” Hussain said.
The ACLU agreed, noting that the case number requirement was a previously optional feature that rolled out in July 2025 and seemed to do little to prevent police abuse when cops can manipulate the case numbers to suit their agendas.
“This leaves the public wondering how making an ineffective voluntary security measure mandatory will improve its functionality,” the ACLU said.
It matters whether the changes meaningfully block cops from stalking, as Flock continues to expand police access to more cameras in the US. Currently, Flock cameras are posted in every state but Alaska, leveraged by 7,000 law enforcement agencies, the New York Times reported. In total, that’s about 40 percent of all police departments in the US, and the ACLU noted that the same privacy concerns for Flock cameras exist for competitors’ automated license plate readers, which are signing contracts in areas where Flock isn’t.
While the ACLU acknowledged the problem goes beyond Flock, the group accused Flock of obscuring the problem by announcing changes that “seem to be a thinly veiled PR attempt to counter communities’ genuine privacy concerns with its mass surveillance system with largely hollow security promises, rather than an earnest effort to address them.”
Pointing to a database compiled by the Institute for Justice—which maps out where police Flock misuse and stalking are happening in the US—the ACLU said that “serious concerns” remain about how cops use Flock data and whether agencies or Flock are willing to stop abuse.
“Until Flock demonstrates they can develop a reliable, workable system to prevent improper searches, this promise of local control provides nothing more than a false sense of security,” the ACLU said.
