Get The Flock Out

The US is quickly becoming a mass surveillance state. Our community, and maybe yours, is complying.

Background: Flock automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are now installed in at least 5,000 communities across the United States. Police and Sheriff departments are already misusing the data collected from ALPRs, and highly questionable searches and data transfers have occurred in large numbers. Billions of vehicle travel records have now been obtained by the Flock company, and US police and sheriffs departments.

ICE and Homeland Security are accessing this data – indeed, the readers in the city of Santa Cruz were supposed to be obtained through a Department of Homeland Security grant, but that money came out of the general fund instead. Now, the SCPD is hoping to install 14 more ALPRs through grants. And Watsonville is seeking to add 17 cameras for a total of 37 (see urgent action item above!). One woman was tracked through the national Flock system by a Texas police department after having an abortion. Police departments are casually and voluntarily sharing information with federal agencies like ICE and Homeland Security.

Our city councils should remove these cameras ASAP. We do not need to contribute to any further mass surveillance infrastructure in this nation, especially under an unhinged authoritarian regime, nor any administration.

Important! Please read more about Flock cameras, Palantir, and mass surveillance here. Curious about where cameras are in Santa Cruz County? See our list here.

Here is the background information on these cameras in Santa Cruz County, across the state, and nationally, and how they are being used by ICE and Homeland Security, as well as by police departments in various states to track (and potentially track) women who have had abortions, and ordinary citizens, in general.

If you are interested in joining in a grassroots campaign to remove these mass surveillance cameras in Santa Cruz County, our campaign is asking for the following:

• Send an email with your contact information: name, titles (if any), phone number, and your email address to gtfoscc@proton.me. Let us know if you are willing to be listed as a supporter of this campaign and, if you are a group, if you want to be listed as a group.

• Use this Santa Cruz Area Action Toolkit to study the issue and contact your local City Councils (in Santa Cruz County, the cities of Watsonville, Capitola and Santa Cruz all have these cameras). The Scotts Valley and Unincorporated Santa Cruz County Toolkit can be found here, because these areas do not have Flock cameras at present. Feel free to adapt the Toolkit for your local community. 

• In Santa Cruz: Ask your council members and Mayor to agendize this item (to remove Flock cameras) and organize community members to speak at council meetings and send emails in ahead of such votes. See the Action Toolkit for how, when, and where. 

• Begin an in-depth conversation in your community about what these cameras mean for our society, for democracy, for our Constitution (i.e., the 4th Amendment), and under the current administration. Flock data is currently being shared with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, and has been shared countless times in violation of California state law. As we understand it, the Flock company stores and owns all data collected. Flock is partially funded by Peter Thiel’s Founder’s Fund (also funder of Thiel’s Palantir), and Thiel has been the main financial backer of J.D. Vance. 

• Thiel and many of his tech/AI colleagues and political bedfellows have stated they are essentially opposed to women’s right to vote, and some have been clear that they oppose democracy altogether. Given all this, who really has oversight over this data? Who is the watchdog over Flock? Is there any watchdog whatsoever? What will this data be used for in the future and what is it being used for now?

• There is a tremendous amount of data and research going back more than a decade on Flock cameras and the impacts of Ring and other security cameras (who are also sharing data with law enforcement). We, as ordinary residents and citizens, do not have every answer yet, but we are willing and need to ask the questions. It strengthens our communities and our civil liberties to engage in dialogue about protecting our personal freedoms and privacy rights in this digital/AI age. There are many of us on both the Left and the Right that can likely agree that our personal privacy, data, and travel information should not be collected or mass surveilled.

• The citizens of Norfolk, Virginia (population 230,000) are suing the city for removal of 170 Flock cameras, based on what they allege is a violation of their Fourth Amendment Rights. Read their court-filed complaint. 

  1. 1. • • Update: Judge rules the suit can proceed (February, 2025).

          • Court rules Flock cannot intervene in the case. Trial set for October 2025.