Volunteers map 125,000 license plate readers via OpenStreetMap, exceeding Flock Safety's own count
aakashgupta · x · 2026-09-03
After noticing unexplained solar-poled devices on a cross-country drive, volunteers built DeFlock on OpenStreetMap, cataloging roughly 125,000 automated license plate readers — more than the 120,000 Flock Safety itself claims to have installed. The cameras, sold to 6,000+ agencies across 49 states, log billions of plate reads monthly, retained 30 days by default, whether or not the vehicle is under investigation.
- Will Freeman dropped pins marking each camera's position and lens direction, and taped signs on poles pointing drivers to the map.
- Strangers picked up the effort; within two years the crowd-sourced map surpassed the vendor's own numbers, spotlighting the scale of a previously unlisted surveillance network.
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