Update on August 28, 2025: Feel Safe Now? License Plate Readers Are Tracking You Everywhere You Drive
This is an update on my story from August 28, 2025, Feel Safe Now? License Plate Readers Are Tracking You Everywhere You Drive, where I reported that Flock cameras were popping up across the country collecting license plate numbers without much public scrutiny. Back then I noted the scale and the potential for harm, and that those installations were not limited to one region or a single vendor contract. The pattern has only widened since that piece ran.
Investors behind Flock Safety include Andreessen Horowitz (Marc Andreessen) and Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), facts that haven’t stopped the cameras from rolling into neighborhoods and commercial districts. Those names give the program a veneer of high-tech credibility that made it easier for procurement teams to greenlight deployments. When big-name backers appear, the usual instinct is to assume the product has been properly vetted.
It has now been discovered that Flock’s cameras are junk, full of security holes, and use outdated, unsupported technology. That finding changes the risk profile in a basic, material way, because obsolete hardware and unpatched software invite abuse and failure. But hey, they have a nice black pole.
Security holes in networked cameras are not a theoretical problem, they are an operational one that can lead to data leaks, spoofing, and unauthorized access to location histories. When camera firmware is unsupported, cities and counties lose any realistic path to remediation unless the vendor offers a full upgrade. That leaves sensitive movement data exposed to whatever actors can exploit those flaws.
Civic procurement teams that rushed these systems into service often leaned on the supposed ease of use and vendor assurances rather than demanding independent audits. The video linked below will make your blood boil over how naive your city was to fall for this scam in the first place, and over the ones who haven’t thrown Flock out already. Public oversight was weak at the moment of purchase, and that gap is where problems grew.
Once footage and plate reads are held in centralized databases, they become a tempting target for bad actors, as well as a liability in the hands of bad actors within institutions. The technical debt of unsupported devices means patches are unlikely, and replacing hardware can be expensive and politically awkward. That creates a long tail of exposure that taxpayers may end up paying for.
Two practical realities stand out: first, transparency about where devices are placed and how long records are retained is sparse; second, independent security testing was often absent or superficial. Municipalities should demand demonstrated, up-to-date security practices before buying surveillance technology, including proof of current support and a clear plan for migration when technology is end of life. Without that, procurement is just window dressing.
Beyond technical failings, there’s the civil liberties angle that never goes away when vehicles and movements are logged at scale. Databases of plate reads can be aggregated, queried, and sold, and the chain of custody for that information is rarely visible to the public. That reality calls for stronger policy guardrails, not more glossy marketing materials.
Regulatory and oversight responses will determine whether this becomes a contained scandal or a lasting change to how cities accept surveillance tech. Right now the story is still unfolding, and the combination of high-profile investors, cheap hardware, and poor security choices has made it more consequential. Watch the evidence, ask the hard questions, and expect more reporting as details emerge.