Your Daily Guide

Who's Using Flock Cameras Around Chicago?

Flock Safety is the nation’s largest vendor of automatic license plate readers — AI-powered cameras that capture and categorize all passing vehicles, storing license plate numbers, time and place, and car details including dents or bumper stickers. These data points are often made searchable.

Flock cameras are being used on the University of Illinois Chicago campus and in nearby suburbs. While marketed as a useful tool for law enforcement, the cameras have been targets of vandalism as privacy concerns mount.

How are they different from traffic cameras? Red light cameras and speed cameras are only activated by alleged violations, and the data from those cameras typically isn’t shared with anyone other than the city.

Misuse by Police: Multiple Chicagoland law enforcement agencies are investigating their officers for unauthorized, personal use of Flock cameras. In Prairie Grove, one officer searched ex-girlfriends and their current partners. One person was searched over 140 times.

Immigration, Abortion, and Weed: Opponents have questioned the use of the technology in several cases. A year ago, Flock halted their pilot program with federal agencies after an audit revealed that Customs and Border Protection had accessed Illinois data. Elsewhere, data from the cameras was used to track down a Texas woman who had an abortion and a Wisconsin man who traveled to Michigan to buy marijuana.

“Stop Flock”: A coalition of UIC students, staff, and faculty is circulating a petition asking the university to end all contracts with companies connected to ICE, listing Flock as one of them.

• Residents in Woodstock packed a city council meeting last week, calling for the removal of the cameras and the end of the city’s three-year deal with Flock.
• Three men were charged with stealing and defacing Flock cameras in DuPage County last month.

Flock’s Response: Earlier this month, the company announced changes in response to backlash from lawmakers and advocates. A previously optional feature that flags abnormal search behavior will now be mandatory starting Jan.1.

Illinois lawmakers have proposed legislation to create stricter restrictions and standards on statewide use of ALPRs.

Where are the Chicago Flocks? DeFlock is an open-source, volunteer-powered map project identifying automatic license plate readers. It shows you where cameras are and who operates them. Chicago Police have used plate readers since 2006, but the city does not have a contract with Flock.

Have you been “Flocked?” You can search your license plate number, and this website may show you if your plate has been searched by law enforcement.