Axon Is Another License Plate Surveillance Company

Governments are switching, but I’m not sure it makes a difference:

…some municipalities, including Denver, Colorado, are ditching their Flock arrays. But keep in mind that if they’re only switching from Flock to another brand of license-plate readers, like Axon, it’s like a gambling addict trying to kick the habit by switching from FanDuel to DraftKings.

[…]

Despite what you may read on the Flock website, Axon cameras are pretty effective when it comes to hoovering up personal details that can go far beyond your license plate numbers. That means a municipality that opts for Axon cameras instead of Flock units won’t necessarily reduce the amount privacy its citizens lose through their use.

Tags: cars, law enforcement, privacy, surveillance

Posted on July 28, 2026 at 7:06 AM • 9 Comments

Comments

Rontea • July 28, 2026 9:11 AM

Municipalities swapping Flock for Axon because this time Big Brother will be gentler. Flock flags a journalist for driving a press car, Axon watches you sneeze and calls it a hazardous event. Denver thinks it’s breaking free from surveillance creep, but all it’s really done is trade one dystopia-as-a-service for another — now with bonus drones and taser-enabled roombas. The data doesn’t go away; it just gets a shinier dashboard. But sure, tell yourself switching from Flock to Axon is privacy progress. That’s like deleting Twitter and living on Threads — same circus, different tent.

Clive Robinson • July 28, 2026 10:05 AM

@ Bruce,

With regards,

“Governments are switching, but I’m not sure it makes a difference”

For a change to be made there has to be considerable pressure to jump out of the current groove. Which is seen as an expensive and painfull process for those “doing the job”.

If any pressure can be deflected and the job not changed then by far the majority of time all that will be changed is little more than “job titles”…

Thus the issue to change is by the use of “applied pain” in senior management that will flow down, not trickle.

But that rarely happens even when the cause is an absolutely horror story, because the MSM move on for fresh blood.

AL • July 28, 2026 11:45 AM

I think the municipalities should negotiate what the data can be used for, and how long the data can be retained, and the arrangement prominently disclosed to the public, in other words, transparency.

That way, people will know who to vote for.

KC • July 28, 2026 11:48 AM

In Axon’s SEC Filing, they have a paragraph covering their ALPR product line.

https://investor.axon.com/sec-filings

“… Our competition in this area includes Flock Safety, Genetec (AutoVu), Jenoptik, Motorola Solutions (including its Vigilant and fixed LPR solutions), Neology (including its PIPS Technology business), NDI Recognition Systems, PlateSmart Technologies, and Rekor Systems.”

I believe 3 are public co’s, 5 are private.

On privacy, AI (there’s more):

“… We may also face increased scrutiny regarding data privacy and security risks related to the data we use to train and evaluate AI models, as breaches or misuse of this data and associated terms and conditions could expose us to significant liabilities […] Failure to appropriately respond to this evolving landscape may result in legal liability, regulatory action, or brand and reputational harm.”

anon • July 28, 2026 12:56 PM

As KC posted above:
“We may also face increased scrutiny regarding data privacy and security risks related to the data we use to train and evaluate AI models, as breaches or misuse of this data and associated terms and conditions could expose us to significant liabilities”

Why would publication of their T&Cs increase liability unless they didn’t actually want anyone to read them?

verity • July 28, 2026 2:13 PM

@anon

for yrs they have told us that if someone has nothing to hide…that someone doesnot need to worry about privacy/confidentiality.

@Clive

I am sure that in future political house cleaning will involve selective use of this surveillance dataset. Ppl who thought they were on the inside will be scapegoated as the system seeks to perpetuate and protect itself. Pity for them to have believed they were exceptional.

But yes…keep on buying machines to read licence plates instead of hiring actual people and training them in professional law enforcement. Nobody sees value in experienced professionals anymore.

verity • July 28, 2026 2:38 PM

@anon @KC

re: breaches and misuse of associated terms and conditions

I wonder if the t&c include disclaimers rather than warranties. Eg: “The vendor makes no promises this will with certainty identify a suspect or establish proof that a crime has been comitted” and so on. Some legalese to the effect of: this in no way replaces professional judgment and in now way replaces due diligence. Check everything before acting. Of course this sounds inefficient. Rather than streamlining, the tool adds an additional step to the work. This is the tool serving as a type of informant. It doesnt give you fact, it gives you a tip. Fair enough, but do police pay millions for tips?

The misuse is obvious. LEOs acting without doing due diligence. A simple eg: concluding that a car is stolen because the plate on it is reported stolen, without checking the vin.

SocraticGadfly • July 28, 2026 6:31 PM

@AL: I think the answer is simpler. Local governments shouldn’t contract with license plate readers in general without compelling reason.

And, if they DO need to read plates, let the local government do it itself, directly.

To put it in terms of Tex-ass, where I live?

Flock is NOT subject to the Texas Public Information Act, nor, of course, the Federal Freedom of Information Act.

My local police department and sheriff’s office are, though they may cite security exemptions.

And, I put that in a newspaper op-ed column at my newspapers a month ago.

Clive Robinson • July 29, 2026 2:44 AM

@ verity,

With regards,

“I am sure that in future political house cleaning will involve selective use of this surveillance dataset. Ppl who thought they were on the inside will be scapegoated as the system seeks to perpetuate and protect itself. Pity for them to have believed they were exceptional.”

In an authoritarian process the only person who is “exceptional” is the one with power and no knife in their back from those wanting their position of control / power.

Stalin is a historically visible example of what that means in reality.

Today the same goes on but the game has changed a bit…

Now it’s a game of “puppet idiot leaders” for the public to throw rocks bombs and bullets at, with the real control and power being in the hands of the apparently meek oh so helpful advisor. Who slips away out the side door as the mob comes banging, and when the puppet is hung up as a vengeance warning, comes back to be the new “idiot leader” advisor.

The reason such advisors are seldom seen by the public is that they don’t want the faux trappings of power and success they want the real power of the finger on the scales of mankind making the marionettes dance to the tune that only the advisor can hear.

For them what use is a knife in someone’s back when a few poison words whispered in the right ear will do the job oh so much better.

This is the real danger of the use of “arms length” AI Agents, they don’t need “physical agency” just “a mind to poison with a helpful word…”

Schneier on Security

Axon Is Another License Plate Surveillance Company

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