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Flock Safety cameras found to detect people and bicycles via hacker investigation
A hacker collective known as stegan0gram physically removed a Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera to perform reverse engineering. The resulting data, shared with investigative outlets including WIRED and 404 Media, revealed that the device's software is capable of detecting not only vehicles and license plates but also people and bicycles.
The investigation also exposed vulnerabilities in the company's security claims. Despite Flock Safety's assertions that its devices utilize on-device encryption, hackers successfully recovered an encryption key from the hardware, allowing them to unlock thousands of vehicle detection videos. Analysis of the recovered data showed that a single camera captured approximately 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles over a 21-day period.
These findings have intensified the national debate regarding mass surveillance and privacy. Reports indicate growing public mistrust, with some cities canceling contracts and others, such as the Texas City Police Department, implementing stricter oversight and search justifications to prevent misuse. Concerns have also been raised regarding the potential for law enforcement to use the technology for personal tracking, with reports citing instances of officers using the systems to monitor acquaintances or family members.
Entities
404 Media · DDoSecrets · Distributed Denial of Secrets · Flock Safety · Wired · stegan0gram
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 7 SOURCES] Flock camera software explicitly detects people, bicycles, and license plates in addition to vehicles. cybernoz.com · totalsecurity.com.br · ipaddisti.it · www.ad-hoc-news.de · www.baocalitoday.com · +2 more
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A September 2026 report identified 61 cases where law enforcement allegedly used ALPR systems to track personal acquaintances. goldengatexpress.org
- [● 4 SOURCES] One camera generated approximately 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles over a 21-day period. www.ad-hoc-news.de · www.baocalitoday.com · san.com · arstechnica.com
- [● 5 SOURCES] Hackers recovered an encryption key from a physically removed Flock camera, bypassing on-device encryption. cybernoz.com · totalsecurity.com.br · www.baocalitoday.com · san.com · arstechnica.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] A hacker collective named stegan0gram physically removed a Flock camera to perform reverse engineering. totalsecurity.com.br · www.baocalitoday.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Texas City Police implemented new oversight policies for Flock cameras after identifying two instances of misuse. www.houstonpublicmedia.org