A hacked Flock Safety camera provided an unusually detailed look at how the company’s automated license plate reader system captures and processes images of vehicles and people. A hacker collective physically removed a camera from a roadside location, copied much of the data stored on the device, and shared the material with journalists.
An investigation by 404 Media and WIRED found that the recovered files included videos, images, and software that revealed the camera does more than capture a single photograph of a vehicle’s license plate. The findings also showed that the system’s computer-vision software can detect people, bicycles and other objects in addition to vehicles and plates.
Data recovered from the device covered roughly 21 days of activity. During that period, the camera recorded about 50,200 vehicles and generated approximately 1.6 million images, according to the investigation.
The camera appeared to capture multiple images of each passing vehicle at different exposures, rather than relying on a single plate photograph. Some vehicles generated dozens of images, while others produced more than 100. The device then selected and processed relevant frames before transmitting information to Flock's systems.
The analysis also found that the camera's software could identify people, bicycles, and vehicles. It could sometimes isolate visual elements such as bumper stickers and other graphics.
The investigation offered insight into how the camera divides its work between the device itself and Flock's servers. The camera captures images and sends selected material through its cellular connection, while more complex identification appears to take place on Flock's cloud infrastructure.
According to the analysis, vehicle characteristics such as make, model, and color, along with license-plate interpretation, appear to be processed on Flock's servers rather than entirely inside the camera. The recovered data also showed that the camera stores short video clips and other information locally before transmission.
Also Read: Microsoft AI Chief Sounds Alarm Over AI Hacking Risks
Flock Safety has maintained that its cloud platform was not compromised in the incident. The latest findings instead involve a physical camera that hackers removed and examined.
The company has also disputed the idea that its technology continuously tracks individuals. Flock says its cameras capture point-in-time images of vehicles on public roads and that safeguards, access controls, and retention policies are designed to restrict how the information is used.
The incident renewed questions around the security and privacy implications of large networks of automated license plate readers. Flock operates more than 120,000 cameras across the US, according to the company, while privacy advocates have raised concerns about how the resulting data can be searched and shared.