Saw this on a pole? You're in the right place. Here's what it means — and what we're doing about it.
Saw this on a pole? You're in the right place. Here's what it means — and what we're doing about it.
Mass surveillance isn't safety.
Automated license plate readers log where every car goes — no warrant, no suspicion, no crime required. This site helps you find them, understand what they do, and organize to get them out of your town.
Camera count captured Aug 2026 via DeFlock — an evolving, community-sourced count.
These systems record everyone, permanently, by default. Your commute, your doctor's office, your place of worship, your kid's school pickup — all logged and searchable, often by agencies far outside Westchester, with minimal oversight of who looks you up or why. It's not just your plate: cameras build a searchable "vehicle fingerprint" — make, model, color, damage, bumper stickers. Many of the same networks also run separate microphones, and related camera products can zoom in on people, not just cars.
This map is maintained by DeFlock, a community-run project tracking ALPR cameras nationwide. Screenshots below are a snapshot in time — the live map updates as the community adds new sightings, so check it directly for the current picture.
Here's the approach taken by Katonah/Bedford, modeled after the FlockOff! Ithaca guide — use it as a template for your own town.
Full step-by-step plan, FOIL request language, and local government contacts: Bedford & Westchester Action Plan → (still being finalized — check back soon)
These aren't edge cases — they're documented patterns of what happens once this data exists: officers misusing access to track people they know personally, systems used for far more than the "serious crime" pitch, vendors that won't leave when asked, and networks whose feeds have leaked online.
Innocent drivers have been detained at gunpoint, jailed, and served tickets for alleged infractions in cities they never visited, all because of ALPR misreads. Officers routinely treat an automated alert as probable cause rather than a lead to verify first. And then you have to prove the camera was wrong — not the other way around.
Institute for Justice ↗ · Red light ticket ↗ · Package theft ↗ · Law professor explains ↗A Washington Post investigation found dozens of officers nationwide had misused the network to monitor former or current romantic partners; separate cases in Milwaukee, Louisiana, and Massachusetts led to firings and criminal charges.
Washington Post ↗ · CNN ↗Georgia State Patrol issued a citation for phone use while driving based on an ALPR camera image — well outside the "solving serious crime" justification these systems are sold on.
EFF ↗The mayor of Verona, Wisconsin said the company ignored repeated requests to remove cameras after the city's contract had already ended.
Wisconsin Examiner ↗Investigations in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Virginia each found ALPR cameras concentrated more heavily in Black neighborhoods than white ones.
LPM (Kentucky) ↗ · WHRO (Virginia) ↗Reporting has documented ALPR search records from local departments — including at least one case involving Rekor rather than Flock — being accessed in connection with federal immigration enforcement.
SF Standard ↗A Texas officer searched nationwide ALPR networks specifically looking for a woman who had traveled out of state for reproductive care.
404 Media ↗A roundup of how communities around the country are organizing against ALPR surveillance and what's driving the backlash.
ABC News ↗There's more — search online for terms like "Flock camera misuse," "ALPR lawsuit," or "license plate reader abuse" for the latest stories.
See our step-by-step local action plan, or dive into the primary sources this campaign is built on.
Grassroots groups, journalists, and researchers have been documenting and organizing against ALPR surveillance for years. We're building on what they started, not reinventing it. Dig into these primary sources to keep learning.
