# Hackers Crack Open a Flock Camera and Expose Its Secrets > A stolen camera reveals how the surveillance system tracks vehicles, people, and even bumper stickers across America. - Title: Hackers Crack Open a Flock Camera and Expose Its Secrets - Summary: A stolen camera reveals how the surveillance system tracks vehicles, people, and even bumper stickers across America. Flock cameras detect and record far… - Keywords: flock safety, license plate readers, surveillance cameras, stegan0gram, hacking, privacy, police surveillance, encryption, android, gainsec, immigration and customs enforcement, alpharetta georgia - Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/hackers-flock-camera-data-shows-how-system-works - Author: Dhruv Mehrotra - Published: 2026-09-16T10:30:00+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: flock safety, license plate readers, surveillance cameras, stegan0gram, hacking, privacy, police surveillance, encryption, android, gainsec, immigration and customs enforcement, alpharetta georgia ## Hackers steal and crack Flock camera A hacker collective ripped down a Flock camera, copied its data, and recovered an encryption key stored on the device. They shared the files with journalists to expose how the system works. ## Thousands of vehicle videos unlocked The encryption key unlocked videos of thousands of vehicle detections. Much of the camera's most sensitive storage remained encrypted and inaccessible. ## Cameras detect people, not just cars The camera's software explicitly detects people, vehicles, license plates, and bicycles. It sometimes isolated bumper stickers and graphics, including an American flag patch. ## Why reverse engineer, not destroy The hacker collective stegan0gram wanted to find secrets rather than just destroy cameras. They published details so others could copy their methods. > Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us? ## How Flock's system actually works Cameras photograph passing vehicles and send images to Flock's servers. The servers read plates and identify vehicle characteristics, making them searchable by police. ## Over 2,000 agencies can search cameras Flock's national network lets police departments across the country search each other's cameras. In Alpharetta, Georgia, over 2,000 agencies could access the city's camera records. ## ICE and abortion searches spark outrage Local cops performed lookups for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even in areas that banned it. A Texas cop searched nationwide for a woman who self-administered an abortion. ## Encryption key found on device itself Hackers accessed the Android system and found unencrypted partitions. One called "media" contained an encryption key that unlocked videos and stills the camera took. ## Flock downplayed security flaws before Security researcher Jon Gaines found flaws allowing root access in early 2025. Flock said they required physical access and that footage remained inaccessible. ## Each car generates dozens of images A typical passing vehicle generated about 28 images, though some produced over 100. The camera uses different exposures to capture both the plate and wider scene. ## 1.6 million images in three weeks Over 21 days of recovered logs, the camera photographed roughly 50,200 vehicles and generated about 1.6 million images. A typical day logged around 3,300 vehicles. ## People detected on motorcycles Tests on 27,321 video clips found people detected in 11 of them, all riding motorcycles. The camera records where people appear and how confident it is in the detection. ## No face recognition found Flock insists cameras don't perform face recognition. Journalists found no evidence of face recognition capabilities beyond default Android features that weren't actively used. ## Camera constantly crashed from full storage Logs recorded over 27,000 "no space left on device" errors while saving images. The camera also logged tens of thousands of related errors, crashes, and reboots. > A reboot was requested! ¡Adiós, Amigos! ## Sabotage may backfire, critic warns Former cop Noel Pichardo worries that sabotaging cameras could strengthen the case for them. He says vigilantism will crystallize police belief that the tool is necessary. > I think that type of vigilantism will only crystallize the police and the state at large in their belief that this tool is necessary. ## Key takeaway Flock cameras detect and record far more than just license plates, including people, bicycles, and bumper stickers, while sharing data with thousands of agencies nationwide.