Our position, and what this site is not
This site names a real company and describes real equipment, so it should be equally clear about what it is claiming and what it is not. This page is that statement. It is written plainly and meant to be read literally.
Who we are
FlockDetour is an independent navigation product. It maps roadway surveillance equipment documented in open community data and compares the fastest route between two points against one that passes fewer of those cameras. On this site the word Flock on its own always refers to Flock Safety, the vendor. Our own product is always called FlockDetour. We keep that distinction in every sentence we publish precisely so no reader can mistake one for the other.
Our position
- We do not dispute that the vendors state a public-safety purpose
Flock Safety and the other companies named on this site say their products exist to help police solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles and find missing people. We take that stated purpose at face value and we do not allege otherwise. Where we cite a claim about effectiveness, we cite it as the company's own claim and link the company's own words. Where independent evidence exists we cite that too, including when it supports them.
- We are here for the people on the other side of the lens
A driver who has done nothing wrong is photographed, indexed and made searchable dozens of times a week without ever being asked. Some of those people feel that is a reasonable trade for public safety. Others feel it is an intrusion on their privacy and their freedom of movement. This site is for the second group. Serving them is not an accusation against anyone.
- We document equipment that is in plain view on public roads
Every camera on our map is a piece of hardware installed in public, visible to anyone driving past, and recorded in an open dataset that anyone can inspect and correct. We publish no proprietary information, no internal documents, no source code and no data taken from any company's systems. Photographing and describing what is plainly visible from a public street is ordinary protected expression.
- Choosing your own route is lawful, and it is all we offer
Our product compares the fastest route between two points with one that passes fewer documented cameras, and shows what the difference costs in minutes. Deciding which public road to drive on is not regulated. We do not defeat, disable, degrade or interfere with any device, and nothing we publish helps anyone do so.
On the name
FlockDetour refers to Flock Safety by name because that is the company whose equipment most of our readers are asking about, and there is no way to answer their question without naming it. Referring to a company accurately in order to discuss its products is ordinary and lawful. We do not use the company's logos or branding, we do not imply sponsorship or endorsement, and we carry a disclaimer of affiliation on every page of this site.
This ground has been covered publicly before. In February 2025 Flock Safety sent a cease-and-desist to DeFlock, a volunteer mapping project, asserting trademark dilution over its name. The Electronic Frontier Foundation took the case and declined, noting that federal anti-dilution law contains express carve-outs for noncommercial use and for use in connection with criticizing or commenting on a mark owner or its products. Both letters are public and linked below.
What this site does not do
- We do not tell anyone to obstruct a plate
Plate covers, sprays, flippers and every other obstruction device are illegal in all fifty states, and our published guidance says so in plain language on more than one page. A reader who follows our advice ends up taking a different road, not hiding anything.
- We do not tell anyone to touch a camera
Our contributor guide instructs people to observe from public ground and states explicitly that interfering with, obstructing or damaging equipment is a crime and not what this project is for. We disclaim anyone who does otherwise in our name.
- We do not help anyone evade a lawful investigation
Our data is a public map of installed hardware, refreshed from open sources on a schedule. It is not real-time, it does not indicate whether a camera is operating, and it offers no information about any investigation, hotlist or search. It is of no use to somebody trying to outrun one.
- We do not claim affiliation, endorsement, or inside knowledge
FlockDetour is independent. We have no relationship with Flock Safety or any surveillance vendor, we say so on every page, and we have never suggested otherwise.
How we source what we publish
Every factual claim on this site carries a citation, and the sources are listed at the foot of the page that makes the claim. We distinguish between what a company says about itself, what an advocacy organization asserts, and what a court, an auditor or a news organization established. Where an allegation has not been proven we say it is an allegation. Where a figure comes from a campaign rather than a study we say that too.
We also publish things that cut against our own framing — that most plate reads lead nowhere, that the rigorous research on fixed camera networks is largely absent rather than damning, and that several towns which switched cameras off later switched them back on. A site that only published the convenient half of the record would not deserve to be believed about the rest.
Corrections
If something here is inaccurate we want to fix it, and we would rather hear it from you than not. That applies to anyone, including a company we have named. Tell us which page, which sentence, and what the correct information is, and point us at a source. We correct errors of fact promptly and we note when a page has changed.
Camera locations come from open community data. If a pin is wrong, it can be corrected at the source by anyone, including us, and the fix reaches every project reading that dataset rather than only this one.
- EFF — anti-surveillance mapmaker refuses Flock Safety's demand— the 2025 cease-and-desist against DeFlock, and why it was refused
- Flock Safety's cease-and-desist letter to DeFlock— the demand itself, published in full
- EFF's response letter to Flock Safety— the anti-dilution carve-outs for noncommercial use and criticism
FlockDetour reduces exposure to cameras documented in its current data. It cannot identify every camera, guarantee avoidance, replace traffic laws, or ensure a route is surveillance-free. Always follow posted signs and drive safely.