How to DeFlock

You cannot argue about cameras you cannot name. Open the NO FLOCK camera map and zoom into your town to see the license plate readers that have already been documented. Write down the cross streets. Photograph the poles from a public sidewalk. A camera with an address attached is a camera a council member has to explain.

Not sure what you are looking at? Read the plain-English guide to Flock cameras.

ALPRs are one feed among many. The larger, cheaper stream of location data comes from your phone. In one sitting you can:

• Turn off ad personalization and reset or delete your advertising identifier.
• Turn off location history and delete the stored timeline.
• Set location permission to “while using” — never “always” — app by app.
• Disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning while location services are off.
• Move email off an address tied to your legal name for signups and loyalty programs.

Legally and practically, the goal is fewer voluntary links between you and a vehicle record. Skip connected-car data sharing and telematics opt-ins in your vehicle app. Decline the “driving score” programs insurers push. Use cash or a privacy card for parking and tolls where you can. Do not obscure, alter, or damage a plate or a camera — that is a crime in most states and it hands the other side the story.

Every ALPR deployment leaves a paper trail: the contract, the data retention policy, the audit logs, the list of agencies your town shares with. Ask your city or police department in writing for the Flock Safety (or comparable vendor) contract, the number of cameras, retention period, search audit logs for the last 12 months, and any interagency sharing agreements. The response — or the refusal — is your evidence.

The 1776 Pass includes a ready-to-send records request template pack.

Camera contracts are approved in public meetings that almost nobody attends. Show up during public comment with three minutes: the number of cameras, what the contract cost, how long the data is kept, and who else can search it. Ask for a surveillance oversight ordinance requiring a public vote before any new reader is installed. That single ordinance is how towns have actually stopped expansion.

One person asking questions is a nuisance; a hundred is a policy problem. Share the map with neighbors, sign the petition, and mark National De-Flock Day on 10.31.26. Nothing here requires you to identify yourself to us.

Want the whole thing written down? Get the free NO FLOCK guide, or go deeper with the 1776 Pass.