From the moment you pop out of your home or office or drive through the city in a car, you\u2019re being watched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A controversial surveillance network of more than 400 cameras has been steadily spreading across San Francisco. Atlanta-based Flock Safety supplies the hardware to the San Francisco Police Department and California Highway Patrol, among other law enforcement agencies. The automated license plate readers use AI image analysis and infrared cameras to record and track license plates and pedestrians.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The company touts the tools\u2019 ability to identify traffic infractions and other crimes, but concerns about civil liberties have led to escalating backlash from activists and local governments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
You might know these devices exist, but how often are they tracking you?<\/p>\n
The Standard has created a map that shows how many Flock cameras you will encounter when traveling in the Bay Area. To our knowledge, this is the first publicly available effort to help an average person understand how prevalent this surveillance network is along a chosen route.<\/p>\n
We created the tool using a crowd-sourced project called (opens in new tab)<\/a>Deflock (opens in new tab)<\/a>, which relies on users nationwide recording the locations of cameras. The map shows how these devices have blanketed much of San Francisco.<\/p>\n We narrowed the dataset to Flock cameras in and around the Bay Area and added Apple Maps routing so you can see how they may track your travel. Note: The data may be incomplete or outdated \u2014 cameras could be missing, mislocated, moved, or removed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Map a route between two addresses to view nearby Flock cameras. The map highlights those along your path and hides the rest. Tap \u201cclear\u201d to start over.<\/p>\n Playing around with the map garners some interesting results. Flock\u2019s cameras appear mostly on the eastern side of the city, with SoMa and the Mission having a greater density than any other neighborhood. Otherwise, Flock cameras can predictably be found along the city\u2019s major thoroughfares as well as at many freeway on and off ramps. Driving along San Francisco\u2019s side streets or in neighborhoods on the western side of the city will offer less exposure to surveillance.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, a route from the SFPD\u2019s Real Time Investigation Center at 315 Montgomery St. \u2014 where officers monitor and analyze surveillance from Flock cameras \u2014 to Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s City Hall office at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place passes zero cameras.<\/p>\n On the other hand, going from Dolores Park to the Ferry Building means you\u2019ll hit 12. A route from Golden Gate Park to Chase Center has 39.<\/p>\n Flock cameras are just one segment of a larger surveillance infrastructure that has blanketed the city, including police drones, private Ring doorbell cameras, and footage captured by autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n Flock did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n According to the company\u2019s website, Flock produces an ALPR and an AI-powered surveillance camera that have the capability to track vehicles and pedestrians, respectively. These systems differ from SFMTA\u2019s red light cameras, which utilize still photography to record a single instance where a driver has violated the law at a red light.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite Flock\u2019s claims that its tools help solve crimes faster, (opens in new tab)<\/a>experts contend (opens in new tab)<\/a>that these claims are not easily proved. Crime rates across the country have broadly declined since the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, there\u2019s been a local backlash against the technology due to abuse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In February, the Mountain View City Council ended the use of Flock cameras after an internal audit found the system had been accessed by federal agencies, in violation of city policy. A privacy nonprofit has filed suit<\/a> against the city of Oakland, accusing the police department of illegally sharing data with federal agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the San Francisco Police Department let cops in other states illegally<\/a> search city surveillance data on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and an SFPD officer is being investigated for using Flock cameras<\/a> to get a photo of his wife\u2019s stolen car and post it on social media. The devices have also been targeted by vandalism (opens in new tab)<\/a> and destruction.<\/p>\n