Rideshare Dashcams and License Plate Readers Build Roaming Police Surveillance
August 9, 2026
Automated license plate reader networks developed by Flock and Axon are rapidly expanding from fixed streetlamps to hundreds of thousands of rideshare and delivery vehicles, transforming everyday transit into a roaming surveillance apparatus. As police departments leverage these cross-border tracking systems to manufacture pretexts for searches, municipal churn between private vendors masks a deepening reliance on proprietary carceral infrastructure.
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BRIEF
Flock Pitched a Plan To Turn Uber and Lyft Drivers Into Roaming Surveillance Vehicles
A Flock presentation shows the company planned to use around 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and delivery drivers to collect license plate data for its surveillance system.
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Flock’s Plans for Rideshare Dashcams and Coaching Police, Revealed
Plus: A judge rules cell tower dumps unconstitutional, water utility hacks spread to a dozen states, a phishing email opens a missile-parts supplier’s inbox, and a ransomware boss gets 16 years.
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Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.
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Cities Are Ditching Flock, Immediately Replacing It With Axon License Plate Readers
Rather than get rid of ALPR cameras entirely, many cities and towns are switching to Axon, whose cameras can be mounted to an existing streetlamp, helping them blend into their surroundings.
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Flock Highlighted Police Departments Using Its Tech. Now 4 Face Allegations of Misuse
Flock posted videos on its YouTube channel highlighting at least four police departments whose officers have faced allegations of misusing the company’s tech.
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16 Groups Warn FCC’s New ‘Robocall Plan’ Is Really About Dramatically Undermining Privacy
Back in May I noted how the Trump FCC had unveiled a brand new plan to “stop robocalls.” I also noted how the plan doesn’t actually stop robocalls because a well-lobbied U.S. government (1) refuses to hold big companies accountable or collect fines, (2) constantly embraces weak rules that make telem…
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power
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BRIEF
California Town Says Flock Cameras Misread License Plates 71% Of The Time
Flock Safety’s automatic license plate readers were first sold as upmarket add-ons for gated communities and HOA curtain-twitchers who wanted to keep tabs on what everyone was doing, whether they lived there or not. Flock soon realized that selling to rich people wasn’t as profitable as selling to g…
- media and technology
- AI governance
- structural power