Roanoke homeowner says Flock Device was installed on her property without notice
A Roanoke homeowner discovered that a Flock safety camera device had been installed on her property without her knowledge or consent. She expressed concern over the lack of notice and the privacy implications of the surveillance technology being placed on private land.
Background
- Flock Safety is a company that sells solar-powered license-plate reader cameras (called "Flock Devices") to police departments, neighborhood associations, and private security. The cameras capture photos of every passing license plate and upload them to a cloud database where law enforcement can search by plate number, vehicle description, or location and time.
- This technology is controversial because the cameras are often installed on public utility poles or private property without explicit homeowner consent, raising Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search) and privacy concerns. Civil liberties groups argue they create warrantless surveillance networks that track all vehicles, not just those suspected of a crime.
- The Roanoke, Virginia incident mirrors similar disputes across the U.S., where residents discover Flock cameras attached to telephone poles or trees near their homes — sometimes placed there by police or a homeowners association — and have no easy way to get them removed.