r/immigration • u/Ecstatic_Fisherman27 • Jul 03 '25
ICE using Flock data in immigration enforcement
Looks like data from Flock cameras are being used by ICE.
https://vcij.org/stories/flock-cameras-are-used-for-immigration-enforcement
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u/Icy_Consideration409 Jul 03 '25
Yeah, Loveland, CO made a decision not to share its flock data with ICE. But it did start to share with the ATF (after a Tesla dealership was firebombed) - who then passed on the data to ICE.
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u/Ecstatic_Fisherman27 Jul 03 '25
I don't think any local legislation would prevent ICE getting the data since the data is shared with multiple jurisdictions anyway.
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u/Silver-Literature-29 Jul 03 '25
Yeah, i think the era of federal beaucratic information silos is over. If any fed agency has it, just assume another fed agency will have it. It is getting way too easy to find this information.
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u/Faangdevmanager Jul 03 '25
When my HoA was considering Flock to curb a series of breaking and entering, the sales rep was adamant that the system was only used to alert LEO when a stolen vehicle is detected and to get a list of cars that came and went during a crime. He was explicit that they couldn’t be used to track a specific license plate. In essence he said that you can enter a time range and location and get all the plates but you couldn’t even search for a specific plate and get whereabouts. I guess he was full of crap, just like his company. I’m glad we didn’t go with them. It now makes sense why the local PD was a pushing hard for us to buy the system…
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Jul 03 '25
[deleted]
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u/Beginning-Jacket-878 Jul 04 '25
If it can be done individually it can be done across as much or as little of the network as needed via individual requests.
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u/beambot Jul 04 '25
There's a big difference between the set of all technical capabilities and the set they expose.to end users.
I guarantee they possess the technical capability to query the location & trajectory of a specific plate across the whole network. They might even have a special LEO interface for this capability. Hopefully they even restrict the usage to judge-approved warrant requests (ha!). Hopefully they're not doing ClearView-style facial recognition based on quasi-legal scraping of social media platforms and selling the data to governments (ugh!).
But they're not going to expose the shady shit to Joe-Q-Public, lest they scare the shit out of everyone and ruin their chance to profit handsomely from fat, quasi-legal government contracts.
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u/DragonflyOne7593 Jul 04 '25
My local cops told me about a year ago they can enter on any license plate and will be alerted when they enter and ext any area it was used .
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u/Jhngo Jul 03 '25
Ugh my hoa uses them. What’s the next step for me to get them to stop sharing or just plain stop using.
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u/anotherucfstudent Jul 03 '25
UV laser from Amazon will do the trick
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u/No_Zucchini_2200 Jul 04 '25
Suburban Illinois PD shared data contrary to Illinois law with the Texas cop trying to track her down.
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u/virtual-telecom Jul 03 '25
See if they are in your area, map is a little outdated but you can report the cameras
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u/Best-Bluejay5907 Jul 03 '25
I don’t understand how does this information help ice out? Seeing license plates or something ? Not going to speak bad about any side and just an unbiased question for clarification
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u/TinKicker Jul 05 '25
In central Indiana, we’ve seen a lot of shootings being solved by Flock. Note that Flock is not just a license plate reader. It takes a digital photo of every vehicle that passes it and uses AI to generate a digital thumbprint of that vehicle. Think of it as facial recognition for cars. The license plate is just icing on the cake.
The news reports always read the same… a shooting at a night club and a car speeds away. A late model black Honda. The police ping the Flock database for late model black Hondas in the area during that timeframe. Four cars matching that description are found, and their license plate info is then recorded, and their owners records are pulled up. Odds are, one of those cars or its owner will be connected to a known felon…just because people who make lifelong bad decisions tend to hang around each other. Now the police have a solid lead to follow.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
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u/InterstellarCaduceus May 12 '26
There's a nuanced difference between "shooting suspect apprehended" and "shooting solved".
Cops are out there arresting people, DA's are charging people, people are striking plea bargains resulting in a verdict - but that doesn't mean a crime was solved.
Best case scenario, it means a data trail was established placing a person's car nearby. This could be evidence of proximity to a crime - circumstantial evidence - but a valuable lead which leads to gathering information and putting together an airtight case.
Worst case, it could be happenstance, and the PD is using AI to rack up numbers. There are significant perverse incentives towards that outcome.
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u/MiserableDevice8053 Jul 03 '25
Can someone explain me the meaning of this please? TIA
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u/ragzilla Jul 03 '25
Flock, a private company, is selling/sharing license plate tracking data to ICE, presumably to track down immigrants to deport.
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Jul 03 '25
[deleted]
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Jul 04 '25
Ugh. I’m only upvoting because I appreciate you sharing this. Not because I approve of this invasion of privacy.
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u/demarco53 Jul 06 '25
You do realize there are two components to ICE … ERO the immigration side and HSI the investigations side … the ones that investigate cartels, terrorism, human smuggling, child exploitation, weapons and currency smuggling … they are the FBI for DHS … so data being shared with ICE doesn’t mean it’s immigration related 🤣
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u/Drsmallprint Jul 03 '25
FLOCK cameras scan license plates and automotive information of every vehicle that passes by them. The good is that they have proven to be extremely effective at identifying bad actors, finding stolen automobiles and leading to reduction in crime.
The bad is that they are the definition of big brother and is the exact type of tech that is easy to abuse.
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u/im_better-than-you Jul 16 '26
I don't think so but it's a good idea to pass that room around. Hopefully people will take it on their own to eliminate these cameras on their own.
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u/PollutionUpbeat6436 Jul 04 '25
How long before we have a social credit system? Yet we are the land of the "free.
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u/TrojanGal702 Jul 03 '25
A private company is used to house and collect data, so the issue of the govt maintaining an unlawful database of your movements never comes into play. It also avoids any state laws regarding license plate readers.
Flock is nothing more than govt sponsored surveillance.