‘DeFlock SF’ Maps Local Cameras, Spreads Awareness About Flock Surveillance

A local group has launched “DeFlock SF,” a hub mapping Flock and other automated license plate reader cameras around San Francisco, while tracking news and controversy surrounding the surveillance technology.

In response to concerns surrounding the 400 Flock cameras across San Francisco that were installed by the SFPD, the group behind DeFlock SF is documenting the city's growing network of automated license plate readers, as well as updates on legislation and court cases.

DeFlock SF’s map draws from the national DeFlock database, which reportedly tracks Flock cameras and other ALPR devices, as well as public cameras, speed cameras, and other sensors. 

As NBC Bay Area reports, DeFlock SF founder Zachary Schwartz has emerged as a prominent critic of the San Francisco Police Department’s use of Flock cameras. He appeared before the Police Commission earlier this summer to call for a comprehensive audit of how the cameras are being used and what data they collect.

The DeFlock SF project stems from growing concerns about who can access the information collected by the cameras. Earlier this year, it was revealed that federal agencies had accessed San Francisco’s license plate-reading data. A police spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that the data has since been walled off.

A separate 3D map being developed from the same data recently counted 2,608 documented devices within 10 miles of San Francisco, which the creator described on Reddit as one of the densest concentrations they had found.

Both maps show cameras concentrated along major traffic routes including Van Ness Avenue and Market Street, with clusters in neighborhoods such as the Mission and South of Market. One Redditor highlighted the particularly large number of cameras around Dore Alley, where the annual “Up Your Alley” queer leather fetish event takes place, calling the concentration “frightening.”

According to DeFlock, there are an estimated 100,000 Flock cameras and other ALPR devices across the US that collectively scan about 20 billion license plates each month. Flock’s system differs from some other ALPR networks in that it automatically allows participating law enforcement agencies to share and search license plate data across jurisdictions.

DeFlock SF says SFPD has spent nearly $4 million on the system, with annual renewal costs of about $1.2 million.

Concerns about potential misuse have also surfaced elsewhere in the Bay Area. The Bay Area News Group reported over the weekend that the San Jose Police Department recently fired an officer accused of sharing Flock data with a family member involved in a domestic violence situation, which allegedly allowed the suspect to locate the victim. A criminal investigation was also opened.

In San Francisco, an SFPD spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that officers are only permitted to search the system using a case number or computer-aided dispatch number. The department has also credited license plate-reading cameras with helping reduce certain crimes, including vehicle burglaries. SFPD said there were more than 19,000 car burglaries in 2023, before the cameras were installed, compared with 1,764 so far this year.

Schwartz said the DeFlock SF campaign is intended in part to make the technology more visible to the public.

“Right now, what’s really important is to educate people about the cameras,” Schwartz said, speaking to NBC Bay Area. “So then in the future, hopefully enough people are educated about it that they can actually go ahead and make change, whether that’s through banning them or through policy changes.”

Related: Lawsuit Says SFPD’s Flock Cameras Were Accessed by Federal Agencies 1.6 Million Times