A wave of AI‑powered surveillance units is sweeping the U.S., most of them supplied by Flock Security. Marketed as automated license‑plate readers, the devices double as facial‑recognition cameras that catalog any object describable in natural language. With over 100,000 installations, they now log every vehicle and pedestrian that passes within range.

Flock units run a custom Android build and stream footage to a cloud database searchable by text. Police departments can join a national network, giving agencies as far away as Texas access to local feeds. The ACLU of Massachusetts notes that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) routinely pulls data through these inter‑agency agreements, despite no direct federal contract.

Security researchers have repeatedly exposed critical flaws: live streams of parks and homes were reachable without passwords, and physical access allowed root‑level control. Misuse reports include officers tracking ex‑partners and employees viewing children at community centers. Once embedded, the cameras are hard to remove, cementing a permanent, pervasive surveillance infrastructure.