DeFlock South Jersey forms amid growing movement against Flock cameras that read license plates, more
A national movement against Flock cameras, which can record your license plate and the make, model, color and location of your vehicle, is growing.
Some organizers in Camden County have formed "DeFlock South Jersey," a group aiming to get the cameras removed until there's more oversight and regulation.
Adam Sheridan is leading the charge against Flock cameras in South Jersey. He's with a progressive political group called Lonaconing Indivisible but said DeFlock South Jersey is not about politics but rather privacy. People across the political spectrum are concerned, he said.
"This is becoming just a really dragnet surveillance, intrusive privacy thing that didn't exist even two or three years ago," Sheridan told CBS News Philadelphia.
You might have seen the small, black cameras, often attached to a solar panel, popping up in your neighborhood or town. Flock, the company behind the cameras, says they capture license plates, along with the make and color of your car or other unique vehicle features.
The company wouldn't say how many cameras are in Camden County or which law enforcement agencies use its cameras, but DeFlock.org has a crowd-sourced map where people report the locations of Flock cameras and other license plate readers.
"As these cameras proliferate, it's likely that this kind of thing gets worse because there are no guardrails," Sheridan said.
Flock told CBS News Philadelphia the cameras are used to help law enforcement find stolen cars and investigate serious crimes. In 2025, Flock helped locate more than 10,000 missing people, according to the company.
A statement from Flock said in part, "Agencies own and control their data, access is limited to authorized users, every search requires a documented reason."
"Data is automatically deleted after 30 days by default unless an agency establishes a different retention period consistent with applicable law and policy," the statement says.
However, Sheridan and others say the problem is that there are no laws about this.
"There needs to be a lot more public oversight and accountability, regular reports to political and elected bodies to oversee how they're using these things," he said.
DeFlock South Jersey is holding its first meeting on Aug. 27 at the South County Library in Winslow Township. The meeting is open to the public.
Flock also said, "We understand there are questions from the community and we believe public safety and privacy can coexist. That's why we support legislation establishing guardrails governing License Plate Reader (LPR) use."
