Did Flock Safety's use of fake police accounts to search live license-plate cameras cross a line?
Public records show Flock Safety ran searches on live license-plate cameras through fake police accounts, including for "Star of David" and political bumper stickers. Flock says the searches tested its safeguards; a Dunwoody privacy advocate says it proves the sensitive data is captured regardless.
BackgroundWhat are license-plate readers?
Case period:
Published by The Dispute Index editorial teamPublished Updated
Overview
Public records show that Flock Safety, a maker of automated Explainerlicense-plate readerAutomated license-plate readers are cameras that photograph passing vehicles, read their plates and log the time and place. Police check the reads against lists of wanted vehicles and can search the stored records later. No federal law governs their use, and state rules vary widely.What are license-plate readers? (ALPR) cameras used by police departments nationwide, ran searches on live cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas, and other jurisdictions, through accounts named "Flock City PD - Law Enforcement Demo," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo." 404 Media reported on September 17, 2026 that the searches included sensitive queries such as "Star of David," "coexist bumper sticker," "white truck with a trump sticker," and "vehicle a pretty girl would drive." Flock told 404 Media the searches tested and validated the moderation safeguards meant to block such queries, and were not investigative searches by a customer agency. The audit logs show, however, that several sensitive searches were not blocked. A Dunwoody privacy advocate said the episode shows Flock's own network captures this sensitive information, with access controlled only by the company's own policies.
Background: What are license-plate readers?
Read the full background
Flock Safety's automated license plate readers are used by thousands of law enforcement agencies and by private clients such as homeowners' associations across the United States. 404 Media reported (opens in a new tab) on September 17, 2026 that public records show Flock ran searches on live, real cameras through internal accounts named "Flock City PD - Law Enforcement Demo," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo," in Dunwoody, Georgia; Bryan, Texas; and other unnamed jurisdictions.
The searches documented in the audit logs included queries for people holding signs, crowds, and people wearing masks, as well as more sensitive terms: "coexist bumper sticker," "vehicle a pretty girl would drive," "white truck with a trump sticker," "religious cars," "Star of David," and "don't tread on me flag," among others.
A Flock spokesperson told 404 Media that some of these searches, including for "vehicle a pretty girl would drive" and for "Star of David," were deliberately run to test and demonstrate the company's search-moderation safeguards, and were not real investigative searches conducted by a customer law enforcement agency. In a company blog post (opens in a new tab), Flock wrote that bumper stickers can indicate religious affiliation or nationality and that its moderation policy needs to "recognize, flag, and block" such searches.
404 Media reported that the audit logs nonetheless show several sensitive searches, including "crowd," "a person wearing scrubs," and "large group with signs," were explicitly allowed rather than blocked, and that other sensitive searches, such as "vehicle with trump bumper sticker" and "Star of David," received only a warning rather than being blocked outright.
Dunwoody resident Jason Hunyar, a privacy researcher who has previously spoken against the city's Flock contract, told 404 Media that Flock's own explanation "provides the opposite assurance of what they seem to purport," because it confirms the company's camera network does capture this sensitive information, with access to it "controlled solely by the policies of a for-profit corporation."
This is one of several controversies involving Flock Safety's access to and demonstration of live camera data reported by 404 Media and other outlets; this case concerns specifically the "Flock City PD" demonstration accounts and the September 17, 2026 report about them, not Flock's broader public record.
Timeline
3 timeline entries on this page. Dates: September 17, 2026 to September 24, 2026
September 2026
404 Media publishes the “Flock City PD” investigation
Source release
404 Media published public-records audit logs showing that Flock Safety ran searches on live license-plate-reader cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia, Bryan, Texas, and other jurisdictions through accounts named "Flock City PD," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo," including searches for sensitive terms such as "Star of David" and "coexist bumper sticker."
[01]'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)
Source excerpt
Flock ran searches for “coexist bumper sticker,” “white truck with a trump sticker,” and “Star of David,” apparently to demonstrate what cops shouldn’t search for.
404 Media's report, read in full on 2026-09-22, based on public records showing search audit logs from accounts named "Flock City PD - Law Enforcement Demo," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo," which ran searches on live automated license plate reader cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas, among other jurisdictions.
'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)Full article, based on public-records audit logs; quotations from a Flock spokesperson and from Dunwoody resident Jason HunyarSenate subcommittee holds "Always Watching" hearing on Flock's surveillance network
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley, held a hearing titled "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network" on September 23, 2026. The confirmed witnesses were Lindsey Isaacs, a Florida driver who says she was wrongfully arrested based on Flock camera data; Alasdair Whitney of the Institute for Justice; Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Ross Teeple; security researcher Benn Jordan, who has documented unsecured Flock camera feeds; and Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, who called for Congress to bar federally funded law enforcement agencies from using automated license plate readers. Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley and the CEOs of Axon, Motorola Solutions, and Verkada had been invited but were not on the confirmed witness list and were not reported to have appeared. Available coverage of the hearing addresses automated license plate reader misuse, privacy, and surveillance oversight in general terms; it does not report the witnesses or senators specifically addressing the fake-police-account searches of live cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas that are the subject of this case.
[02]Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing page)
Source excerpt
Witnesses: Lindsey Isaacs, Wrongfully Accused Driver; Alasdair Whitney, Legislative Counsel, Institute for Justice; The Honorable Ross Teeple, Sheriff, Pinal County Sheriff's Office; Benn Jordan, Cybersecurity Engineer; Chad Marlow, Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU.
Official Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing page, accessed 2026-09-23, confirming the hearing chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley into Flock Safety and other ALPR/AI-surveillance companies. Press coverage in the days before the hearing (e.g., reporting that none of the four invited company CEOs -- Flock's Garrett Langley, Axon's Rick Smith, Motorola Solutions's Greg Brown, and Verkada's Filip Kaliszan -- were confirmed to appear) is consistent with the confirmed witness list here, which lists five witnesses and no company executives. Neither the hearing page nor available coverage found as of this date describes the witnesses or senators specifically addressing the fake-police-account live-camera-search story (Flock City PD in Dunwoody, GA and Bryan, TX) covered in this case; the hearing instead addressed automated license plate reader misuse and privacy concerns in general terms (wrongful arrest, unsecured camera feeds, calls for federal restrictions on ALPR use).
Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing page)Official hearing page, "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network," Sept. 23, 2026, 2:30 PM ET, Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 562Flock Safety says the "Flock City PD" demo environment is now isolated
Reaction
Responding to our accuracy inquiry, Flock Safety public sector PR manager confirmed the company's existing account of the "Flock City PD" account as a demo and testing environment, and said that environment is now isolated, so law enforcement agencies can no longer form a sharing relationship with it.
[03]Email from Flock Safety PR to Dispute Index confirming the "Flock City PD" account status
Source excerpt
The Flock City PD demo environment is now isolated, and law enforcement agencies cannot form a sharing relationship with it.
Responding to our fact-check inquiry, Flock Safety PR manager confirmed the company's existing account of the "Flock City PD" demo/testing account and added that the demo environment has since been isolated so law enforcement agencies can no longer form a sharing relationship with it. She also pointed to Flock's April blog post "Understanding Flock's Testing and Development Program" for further context.
Email from Flock Safety PR to Dispute Index confirming the "Flock City PD" account statusDirect email reply from Flock Safety's public sector PR manager to our accuracy inquiry, Sept. 24, 2026, 4:58 PM.
Claims
Claims separate what was said from what is contested. Follow each source for the original wording and context.
What's disputed
Disputed claim
Flock Safety
The sensitive searches run through the Flock City PD and related demo accounts, including for "Star of David" and "vehicle a pretty girl would drive," were internal tests of the company's search-moderation safeguards, not investigative searches conducted by a customer law enforcement agency.
Sources (2)
- 'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)Full article, based on public-records audit logs; quotations from a Flock spokesperson and from Dunwoody resident Jason Hunyar
- Understanding Flock's Testing and Development Program (Flock Safety blog) · Flock SafetyFull post
Response record
Responses
Choose one response filter, or select All responses to see the full record.
3 responses. Newest first.
ProtonPrivacy-focused technology company (official account)Before this statement
The post followed 404 Media's September 17, 2026 report that Flock ran sensitive searches, including for "car that a pretty girl would drive," through internal accounts named "Flock City PD" on live customer cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas.
"Why did @flocksafety create a fake police department "Flock City PD" and then look up "car that a pretty girl would drive"? Allegedly, it's to prove that these types of searches are blocked. In reality, it's advertising creepy functionality that shouldn't even exist to start."
CondemnedResponding to: The sensitive searches run through the Flock City PD and related demo accounts, including for "Star of David" and "vehicle a pretty girl would drive," were internal tests of the company's search-moderation safeguards, not investigative searches conducted by a customer law enforcement agency.
Full statement and sources
Proton, a privacy-focused technology company, rejected Flock's explanation that its "Flock City PD" searches were safeguard testing and said the underlying search capability itself is "creepy functionality that shouldn't even exist".
After the statement
The post criticizes the underlying search capability itself and does not address any specific customer agency's use of the cameras.
Proton criticizes Flock Safety's 'Flock City PD' searches · ProtonFull X post, published September 21, 2026 at 10:26 a.m. UTCWhy this label?
On whether Flock's use of fake police accounts to search live cameras crossed a line, Proton condemns it: addressing the same testing explanation at issue in claim 271, Proton says the searches are "advertising creepy functionality that shouldn't even exist to start" — an express evaluation that the underlying capability, not just a particular blocked or allowed search, is wrong.
This label describes the statement's response within the context above.
Jason HunyarDunwoody, Georgia resident and privacy researcher who originally documented Flock's camera access through open-records requests and has previously spoken to the city council against its Flock contract Before this statement
Hunyar and his wife, McKayla Hunyar, have separately spoken before the Dunwoody City Council about the city's Flock Safety contract.
"Flock's claims that they impose restrictions on what users can search for in their database provides the opposite assurance of what they seem to purport. In doing so, they admit that their dynamic surveillance network does in fact capture this sensitive information, and that the gate to that information is controlled solely by the policies of a for-profit corporation."
CondemnedResponding to: The sensitive searches run through the Flock City PD and related demo accounts, including for "Star of David" and "vehicle a pretty girl would drive," were internal tests of the company's search-moderation safeguards, not investigative searches conducted by a customer law enforcement agency.
Full statement and sources
Jason Hunyar, a Dunwoody, Georgia resident and privacy researcher, told 404 Media that Flock's claim of imposing search restrictions "provides the opposite assurance of what they seem to purport," because it confirms the company's camera network "does in fact capture this sensitive information," with access to it "controlled solely by the policies of a for-profit corporation."
After the statement
404 Media reported that Dunwoody residents have said they understand Flock needs to test its systems but "did not sign up to be guinea pigs for a surveillance company."
'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)Full article, based on public-records audit logs; quotations from a Flock spokesperson and from Dunwoody resident Jason HunyarWhy this label?
Relative to whether Flock Safety's use of fake police accounts to search live license-plate cameras for sensitive queries was appropriate, Hunyar directly rejects Flock's defense, arguing the company's own explanation proves the sensitive-search capability exists and is controlled only by the company's own discretion, which condemns the arrangement rather than accepting Flock's justification.
This label describes the statement's response within the context above.
Flock SafetyCompany that manufactures and operates the license-plate-reader cameras, through a company spokespersonDirectly involvedBefore this statement
404 Media's report was based on public-records audit logs showing searches run by Flock City PD and related demo accounts on live cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas.
"Flock City PD is a demo and testing organization name used for law enforcement demonstrations and for our development engineers to conduct testing. Those searches were part of testing and validating FreeForm search moderation and related safeguards. These were not investigative searches conducted by a customer agency."
Defended or excusedResponding to: The sensitive searches run through the Flock City PD and related demo accounts, including for "Star of David" and "vehicle a pretty girl would drive," were internal tests of the company's search-moderation safeguards, not investigative searches conducted by a customer law enforcement agency.
Full statement and sources
A Flock Safety spokesperson told 404 Media that "Flock City PD is a demo and testing organization name used for law enforcement demonstrations and for our development engineers to conduct testing," and that the sensitive searches "were part of testing and validating FreeForm search moderation and related safeguards," adding "these were not investigative searches conducted by a customer agency." The company separately wrote in a blog post that its moderation policy needs to "recognize, flag, and block" searches referencing religious affiliation or nationality.
After the statement
404 Media reported that the audit logs nonetheless showed several sensitive searches, such as "crowd" and "a person wearing scrubs," were explicitly allowed rather than blocked, and that others, including "Star of David," received only a warning.
'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)Full article, based on public-records audit logs; quotations from a Flock spokesperson and from Dunwoody resident Jason HunyarUnderstanding Flock's Testing and Development Program (Flock Safety blog) · Flock SafetyFull postWhy this label?
Relative to whether Flock Safety's use of fake police accounts to search live license-plate cameras for sensitive queries was appropriate, Flock characterizes the searches as legitimate internal testing of its own safeguards rather than improper surveillance, directly excusing the conduct 404 Media's audit logs document.
This label describes the statement's response within the context above.
Sources
(5)
Reporting
'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People (404 Media)
Relevant passage: Full article, based on public-records audit logs; quotations from a Flock spokesperson and from Dunwoody resident Jason Hunyar
Excerpt
"Flock ran searches for “coexist bumper sticker,” “white truck with a trump sticker,” and “Star of David,” apparently to demonstrate what cops shouldn’t search for."
About this source
404 Media's report, read in full on 2026-09-22, based on public records showing search audit logs from accounts named "Flock City PD - Law Enforcement Demo," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo," which ran searches on live automated license plate reader cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas, among other jurisdictions.
- Author
- Jason Koebler, 404 Media
- Published
- Accessed
Official statement
Email from Flock Safety PR to Dispute Index confirming the "Flock City PD" account status
Relevant passage: Direct email reply from Flock Safety's public sector PR manager to our accuracy inquiry, Sept. 24, 2026, 4:58 PM.
Excerpt
"The Flock City PD demo environment is now isolated, and law enforcement agencies cannot form a sharing relationship with it."
About this source
Responding to our fact-check inquiry, Flock Safety PR manager confirmed the company's existing account of the "Flock City PD" demo/testing account and added that the demo environment has since been isolated so law enforcement agencies can no longer form a sharing relationship with it. She also pointed to Flock's April blog post "Understanding Flock's Testing and Development Program" for further context.
- Author
- Flock Safety
- Published
- Accessed
Official statement
Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing page)
Relevant passage: Official hearing page, "Always Watching: Flock's Nationwide AI Surveillance Network," Sept. 23, 2026, 2:30 PM ET, Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 562
Excerpt
"Witnesses: Lindsey Isaacs, Wrongfully Accused Driver; Alasdair Whitney, Legislative Counsel, Institute for Justice; The Honorable Ross Teeple, Sheriff, Pinal County Sheriff's Office; Benn Jordan, Cybersecurity Engineer; Chad Marlow, Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU."
About this source
Official Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism hearing page, accessed 2026-09-23, confirming the hearing chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley into Flock Safety and other ALPR/AI-surveillance companies. Press coverage in the days before the hearing (e.g., reporting that none of the four invited company CEOs -- Flock's Garrett Langley, Axon's Rick Smith, Motorola Solutions's Greg Brown, and Verkada's Filip Kaliszan -- were confirmed to appear) is consistent with the confirmed witness list here, which lists five witnesses and no company executives. Neither the hearing page nor available coverage found as of this date describes the witnesses or senators specifically addressing the fake-police-account live-camera-search story (Flock City PD in Dunwoody, GA and Bryan, TX) covered in this case; the hearing instead addressed automated license plate reader misuse and privacy concerns in general terms (wrongful arrest, unsecured camera feeds, calls for federal restrictions on ALPR use).
- Author
- U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism
- Published
- Accessed
Original post
Proton criticizes Flock Safety's 'Flock City PD' searches
Excerpt
"it's advertising creepy functionality that shouldn't even exist to start."
About this source
In a direct post responding to reporting on Flock's 'Flock City PD' demo accounts, Proton rejected Flock's testing explanation and called the underlying search capability itself the problem.
- Author
- Proton
- Published
- Accessed
Official statement
Understanding Flock's Testing and Development Program (Flock Safety blog)
Relevant passage: Full post
Excerpt
"some vehicle bumper stickers contain words and symbols indicating religious affiliations or nationalities, and the moderation policy needs to recognize, flag, and block these searches."
About this source
Flock Safety's own blog post explaining its testing and development program, cited by 404 Media as the company's explanation for why sensitive search terms exist in its moderation policy testing.
- Author
- Flock Safety
- Accessed
Corrections
(1)
Corrections address errors in our reporting or labels. When a speaker changes their position, we add a separate statement and link it to the earlier one.
Reporting correction
Correction to: Statement by Jason Hunyar
- Previous language
- McKayla Hunyar, a Dunwoody, Georgia resident and privacy advocate, told 404 Media... Hunyar and her husband have previously testified before the Dunwoody City Council about the city's Flock Safety contract.
- Corrected language
- Jason Hunyar, a Dunwoody, Georgia resident and privacy researcher, told 404 Media... Hunyar and his wife, McKayla Hunyar, have separately spoken before the Dunwoody City Council about the city's Flock Safety contract.
This statement was originally attributed to McKayla Hunyar. The cited 404 Media article ("'Flock City PD:' The Fake Flock-Owned 'Police Department' That Searched Real Cameras for Real People," Sept. 17, 2026) identifies the source of this quotation as Jason Hunyar, the Dunwoody resident who originally documented Flock's camera access and writes the newsletter "FOIA Around And Find Out." McKayla Hunyar is Jason Hunyar's wife and a distinct, real person who has separately spoken to the Dunwoody City Council against the Flock contract, but she is not the speaker quoted in this source. The record has been corrected to attribute the statement to Jason Hunyar.
This corrects our account of what happened.
404 Media's report, read in full on 2026-09-22, based on public records showing search audit logs from accounts named "Flock City PD - Law Enforcement Demo," "Flock Intelligence," and "Flock Safety - Commercial Sales Demo," which ran searches on live automated license plate reader cameras in Dunwoody, Georgia and Bryan, Texas, among other jurisdictions.
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- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Did Flock Safety's use of fake police accounts to search live license-plate cameras cross a line?
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/cases/did-flock-safety-s-use-of-fake-police-accounts-to-search-live-license-plate-cameras-cross-a-line
The Dispute Index. "Did Flock Safety's use of fake police accounts to search live license-plate cameras cross a line?". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/cases/did-flock-safety-s-use-of-fake-police-accounts-to-search-live-license-plate-cameras-cross-a-line