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Did you know that your local government is surveilling you right now here in the Quad City area? They did it without your approval and have been trying to hide the extent of the potential surveillance network that is slowly being built.

Last year, the Prescott police signed a contract with Flock Safety, an $8.5 billion private surveillance-technology company backed by large private equity firms and big tech. Flock Safety provides automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems, drones, and the Raven audio surveillance system to municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and private entities, including HOAs and commercial property owners. Their products include networked cameras and microphones, cloud-based data storage, and AI-driven analytics designed to identify, track, and analyze vehicle movements over time.

While marketed as a “public safety” solution, Flock operates as a privately owned, profit-driven data aggregator that collects and retains large volumes of location data on the general public.

Flock Safety does not simply provide cameras and other surveillance technologies. It provides the infrastructure for continuous, suspicion-less tracking of the public, operated by private entities, stored indefinitely, and searchable at scale. That model may be efficient, but efficiency is not a substitute for liberty, and safety purchased at the cost of fundamental freedoms is neither durable nor just.

While law-abiding citizens overwhelmingly support law enforcement and want to provide reasonable tools to help them arrest bad actors, the desire for safety must be weighed against the right to privacy.

A fundamental argument can be made that, to be free, a human being has a right to anonymity. When our every movement is tracked and monitored, we become little more than lab animals in a cage.

In Prescott, 46 cameras have been installed over the last year, a town-wide infrastructure tracking system to which the public did not consent.

The system collects data on all passing vehicles,  not just those tied to investigations. That information, your vehicle make and model, your license plate, and your face are shared with various national databases, the sum of which is not disclosed or known. The information captured is stored without encryption, and anyone can access the system and potentially delete or copy it.

Any decent hacker can access the data and use it for nefarious purposes. And they have. There have already been cases of law enforcement personnel accessing the data to stalk former spouses. From the information captured by these camera systems, a potential stalker could learn a victim’s behavioral patterns, travel times, and the vehicles they use. The potential for real harm exists. To illustrate just how far this could go, take a recent post from James O’Keefe, who was in Minnesota doing investigative reporting on the ICE protests. An unknown person texted him with his vehicle description and license plate number, stating that they knew he was in Minnesota and delivered the following threat: “You have one hour to leave, or you’re dead.” Accessing the Flock data enables these scenarios.

Additionally, with a system this vulnerable, there is a potential for financial fraud, identity theft, and international hacking.

Some citizens may not have an issue with license plate readers, but it rarely ends there. Inevitably, the digital cage expands to include video zoom cameras to capture broader footage, listening devices, and analytics. Soon, your day at the square is on video, and your conversations are no longer private.

Currently, at least five of the pan, tilt, and zoom cameras here in Prescott have that capability.

After living in England for a year, I saw firsthand how these technologies are abused by an ever-encroaching government. In and around London, an ever-growing number of ‘low emission zones’ are designated by city governments. Drivers are then no longer free to drive in these zones at most hours of the day. If you do so, you are fined and receive a ticket in the post — a substantial fine, up to $50, depending on the area. Now, the city of Oxford has become the first 15-minute city, a prison sold as a progressive utopia. Residents will need a permit to leave their defined neighborhood by car. You are forced to walk, bike, or use public transport. Movement is tracked by cameras. Drivers will be allowed just 100 days of “free” travel a year through traffic filters. Another permit gives 25 days through congestion zones. After that, you’re penalized just for moving.

This is not a conspiracy theory!

Flock had already formed a partnership with RING, which enabled real-time tracking—in other words, the government will know where you have been and where you are in seconds. That agreement was suspended only after public pushback. 

Flock is also using the data to train AI systems. Imagine this technology combined with  AI and the coming kill switches to be installed in new vehicles after 2026.

With our smartphones, we can turn off geo-tracking if we wish; with FLOCK, we do not have that option.

What can we do?

Communities all across the country are reconsidering these technologies and removing the systems. We can balance safe neighborhoods with privacy and freedom. We can support law enforcement while also setting boundaries.

The Flock cameras were installed in both Flagstaff and Sedona, and in both communities, people from both sides of the political aisle came together to oppose the infringement of their right to privacy and had the cameras successfully removed.

Help us in telling the city council that we Do Not Consent!

A group of concerned citizens has joined forces to educate and circulate a petition to remove FLOCK.

Today, take a stand for your freedom.

Visit our website at: https://tracked.news,  sign the petition, and let’s get the Flock out of here!