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For Flock Safety’s automatic license-plate recognition (ALPR) system, the company says cameras capture plate images, vehicle characteristics, timestamps and camera-location identifiers—not facial-recognition or biometric data. The current default for new law-enforcement customers is seven days, but local law, contracts and customer type can change that period. Local agencies configure user permissions and sharing, so the only reliable answer for a particular town is in that agency’s policy, contract and audit records.
What Flock Safety ALPR cameras collect
Flock’s current Data Privacy & Protection Trust Center describes the fields collected by its ALPR product. In its words, “Flock ALPR collects license plate images, vehicle characteristics, date and time stamps, and camera location identifiers.” That is a description of the vendor’s stated system design, not an independent audit of every installation.
| Data category | What Flock says ALPR collects | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| License-plate images | Images of detected plates | The system is an ALPR product; the statement does not describe every Flock product. |
| Vehicle characteristics | Characteristics associated with the observed vehicle | Flock does not present this list as an exhaustive description of every attribute in every deployment. |
| Date and time stamps | When an observation occurred | These timestamps accompany the recorded event. |
| Camera location identifiers | An identifier for the camera location | This identifies where the observation was made within the system. |
| Biometric data | Flock says ALPR does not collect it | This is a vendor policy statement, not a finding that has been independently verified for every camera. |
| Driver information | Flock says ALPR does not collect it | The claim concerns the ALPR product itself. |
| Facial-recognition data | Flock says ALPR does not collect it | ALPR and facial recognition are different technologies; do not assume the same description applies to other products. |
ALPR is only one part of Flock’s product range
Flock also describes video cameras, gunshot-detection sensors, real-time crime-center software and drones as first responder. Their collection practices can differ from ALPR. A statement about plate images or facial-recognition limits should therefore not be generalized to all equipment sold under the Flock name.
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How long the data is kept
Flock’s current Trust Center says images and footage are automatically deleted after a set period and that, in most communities, the period is seven days unless local law requires otherwise. Its evidence policy describes seven days as the default cloud-retention period for LPR data for new law-enforcement customers. It also allows longer periods when required by law or established through an approved customer arrangement.
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| Deployment or circumstance | Retention described in the available policy statements | What controls the result |
|---|---|---|
| New law-enforcement customer | Seven-day default | Local law and the customer’s approved settings can require or authorize a longer period. |
| Existing private-sector customer | Existing account terms continue; no universal number is stated | The account agreement and deployment policy, rather than the new law-enforcement default, determine retention. |
| Law-enforcement retention longer than seven days and not required by law | An extension can be requested for up to one year | Flock’s evidence policy says approval from an elected official and/or governing body is required. |
| Case-related evidence | May be preserved beyond the ordinary period | The evidence must be handled under the applicable preservation or case process. |
| Presidio Trust implementation described in a 2024 notice | Thirty days at the time of that notice | This was a specific federal deployment, published April 22, 2024, not a current universal Flock setting. |
Flock’s August 2026 customer update makes the customer-type distinction explicit: “The seven-day default is specific to new law enforcement customers.” Private-sector customers keep their existing retention terms. Check the particular account before applying any number to a business, homeowners’ association or neighborhood camera.
Why older articles mention 30 days
Older references can be accurate for the date and deployment they described. The Associated Press reported on August 13, 2026 that Flock announced a reduction in standard retention from 30 days to seven days, while allowing longer preservation for evidence linked to a case number. Separately, a Federal Register notice published April 22, 2024 described a 30-day term for the Presidio Trust’s own ALPR implementation. Neither source supports treating 30 days as the current rule for every Flock camera.
What deletion means—and when records can remain longer
Routine cloud deletion
Flock’s evidence policy says LPR data is hard-deleted from the cloud after the applicable retention period. “Applicable” matters: the period may be seven days, a longer lawful or approved term, or an existing private-sector account term. A camera owner should obtain its actual setting rather than infer it from a general marketing page.
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Preservation for an investigation
Routine expiration does not prevent evidence from being preserved under the policy’s case process. The 2026 announcement described longer preservation for records linked to a case number. Flock’s evidence policy also discusses extensions and legal disclosure. Ask the agency what event triggers preservation, who can authorize it, and how long a preserved record remains available.
Requests from authorities
Flock says it will notify customers when it receives a request for their data unless the law prohibits notice. Its general privacy policy says the company may access, preserve or disclose personal information to law-enforcement agencies, government officials or other third parties when legally required or when it reasonably believes disclosure is necessary for specified purposes. These are policy statements, not a guarantee that every customer or person mentioned in a record will receive notice in every circumstance.
Who can access Flock camera data
Local agencies set account permissions
Flock says customer agencies manage accounts, assign access according to role and control sharing settings. Searches are linked to a user and logged, allowing the customer to review who searched and when. The existence of role-based access does not, by itself, identify the authorized people in a particular department; that list is maintained locally.
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Sharing with another agency
A police department in another town cannot be assumed to have access merely because both agencies use Flock. Access depends on the customer’s sharing configuration and any agreement between the parties. Flock says private-sector customers may choose whether to share camera data with law-enforcement agencies that have an agreement with Flock. The available policy statements do not establish that sharing is enabled for every deployment.
Private cameras and neighborhood installations
A private business, property manager or neighborhood association can have terms different from a government customer. Its existing retention period applies, and its owner may have a choice about sharing with law enforcement. To know who can search the cameras, obtain the owner’s contract or policy, the list of approved roles, and the sharing agreements in force. A vendor-wide statement cannot substitute for those records.
Can police in other towns search the recordings?
Sometimes, but there is no universal answer. A second agency may be able to search when the camera owner has enabled sharing and the agencies have the required agreement. It may instead need the owner to export or preserve a particular record through a formal request. The relevant questions are whether cross-agency sharing is enabled, which agencies are covered, whether searches are federated or separately requested, and which local officials can approve access.
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Do not confuse a camera’s physical location with the legal owner of its data. A camera mounted on a public road might be operated under a city, county or private contract, and the contract determines who administers accounts and retention. The local customer—not a generic description of Flock’s platform—can answer that question.
How to find the rules for your town
General Flock pages cannot reveal a particular community’s current retention setting or user list. Use the following process with the agency, public-records office or private camera owner:
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- Identify the customer. Ask which agency, department, business or association owns the account and which Flock products are installed. Confirm that the camera is ALPR rather than a different sensor or video product.
- Request the current policy. Ask for the retention period, automatic-deletion rule, preservation procedure and the date the policy took effect.
- Request the contract or order terms. Look for customer type, renewal date, approved extensions, governing-body approvals and any terms carried over from an older account.
- Ask about sharing. Request the agencies or organizations with which data may be shared, the agreements authorizing that sharing and whether sharing is on by default or enabled case by case.
- Ask who is authorized. Seek the role categories that can search, export, preserve or administer data. Some agencies may withhold individual names under applicable law, but the roles and approval process should still be described.
- Ask how searches are audited. Flock says searches are logged. Request the agency’s audit schedule, retention for access logs and process for investigating improper searches.
- Use a public-records request when necessary. Name the policy, contract, sharing agreement, retention setting and audit procedure specifically. A narrow request is easier to answer than a request for “all Flock data.”
- Record the date and version. Retention and sharing can change. Keep the policy date, contract period and agency response so an older answer is not mistaken for the current configuration.
Common misunderstandings
“Seven days applies to every Flock camera.”
No. Flock’s August 2026 update limits that default to new law-enforcement customers. Private-sector customers retain existing terms, and local law or an approved extension can produce a longer period.
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“ALPR is facial recognition.”
Flock says its ALPR does not collect biometric or facial-recognition data. That statement concerns the ALPR product; Flock’s other video and public-safety technologies may collect different information.
“A 30-day document proves the current policy is 30 days.”
Only if the document applies to the same customer and date. The Presidio Trust notice was a dated, deployment-specific description from April 2024, while the reported 2026 announcement concerned a later change in standard retention.
“Deletion means no one can preserve a record.”
Routine cloud deletion and case preservation are different processes. Evidence linked to an investigation can be retained under the applicable policy even after the ordinary search period would have ended.
“Flock controls every access decision.”
Flock provides the platform and states that searches are logged, but customer agencies assign roles and choose sharing settings. The local customer’s policy and logs are needed to determine who actually had access.
What is established—and what remains local
The company’s current statements establish a general ALPR description: plate images, vehicle characteristics, timestamps and camera-location identifiers, with Flock saying that biometric, driver and facial-recognition data are not collected by ALPR. They also establish a seven-day default for new law-enforcement customers, subject to law and approved arrangements, plus the continuation of existing terms for private-sector customers.
They do not establish the current retention period, approved user list, sharing partners or audit results for a particular town. Those facts belong to the local contract, policy, configuration and records. Ask for those documents before drawing conclusions about a specific camera or agency.
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