Surveillance tech company Flock has struggled with its public image for years, but the problem has become particularly acute in recent weeks.

Its network of ALPRs has long attracted criticism over mass surveillance and the retention of location data belonging to motorists who are not suspected of any offense.

Days after its CEO apologized for documented abuses of the company's system, The Register contacted the company's usually responsive media team about an online campaign calling for its automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to be vandalized on Halloween, and received an automated response.

"Thanks for reaching out to Flock. Our media team is currently touching grass and taking a break," the email said.

"Unlike our cameras, we can't work 24/7, so we'll get back to you when we've had a snack and regained the ability to form coherent sentences."

The media handlers have a lot on their plate. More recently, reports of ICE agents accessing local police forces' Flock systems, and police officers using the technology to stalk former partners, have coincided with an increase in vandalism targeting the cameras.

This week, US social media users began promoting Halloween 2026 as a night of action against Flock's ALPRs, which continue to attract negative coverage.

X grouped posts about the so-called "De-Flock America" campaign into a dedicated trending story, which recorded more than 36,500 posts over two days. Similar calls have appeared on other major social platforms.

Posts encourage participants to wear costumes, leave their smartphones at home, and disable nearby ALPRs while concealing their identities.

The Reg asked Flock whether it was aware of the campaign and planned any countermeasures, but received only the automated response.

Apologies and changes

Last week, Flock CEO Garrett Langley apologized after a woman was stalked using his company's ALPR system.

"It kills me that she went through that," he told CBS News in an interview, less than two weeks after The Washington Post published a story highlighting 46 cases involving US police officers abusing their access to Flock's system. Some allegedly involved officers abusing that power to stalk women.

Langley gave the interview after Flock announced an array of changes, including reducing its standard data retention period from 30 days to seven.

Customers may retain information for longer, however. A new "Evidence Mode" allows law enforcement to retain data beyond that seven-day period if it's required for ongoing casework.

Flock also introduced controls allowing police agencies to restrict the types of searches that outside forces can run against their data.

For example, City A might request permission to search data belonging to City B as part of an investigation. With the new feature, City B can restrict City A from making searches related to "immigration enforcement," a nod to ICE agents accessing police Flock systems without a dedicated contract.

Flock will also require customers to enable its existing Audit Assistance feature by year-end. The tool detects unusual search activity and flags it for review. It is currently optional but will become mandatory by year-end, having been "associated with arrests of several law enforcement officers who allegedly abused the system."

Flock said more than a third of customers have voluntarily opted in to Audit Assistance so far.

Langley's interview appeared one day after People reported that Haines City police officer Christopher Goodson, 31, allegedly used Flock to search for his estranged wife's license plate 717 times. The searches took place between September 1, 2024, and June 30, 2026, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Goodson was suspended with pay pending further investigation. ®