Opt Out Of The Camera, Or Opt Out Of Society

A Flock executive said it. A reporter found out what happens when you film them back.

Oct 03, 2026

I first reported about Flock Cameras on September 7, 2026. I believe this will stay in the news for a long time, as reporters keep finding more ways these cameras are used.

“Opting Out of Surveillance Means Opting Out of Society.”

A Flock Safety executive told a critic that opting out of the cameras means opting out of society. The same company had a worker call the police on a reporter who filmed one of those cameras being installed.

The Real Question Is Who Gets To Watch Whom
And Who Gets To Opt Out.

Why can’t you opt out? You can, if you want to opt out of society.
Josh Thomas, Chief Communications Officer, Flock Safety, to Atlanta News First
Watch it Here

What happened

Brendan Keefe reports for Atlanta News First. He stopped near his house in Milton, Georgia, and filmed a Flock worker upgrading a camera. He was in a marked press van. He wore a high-visibility vest.

The worker left. He called 911. He said he was being followed and harassed, and that someone was taking video and pictures. He would not give his full name on the call. He said he did not want them to hear it.

Milton police sent three vehicles. They stopped the reporter.

Filming on a public street is not a crime. The First Amendment covers taking pictures and video in a public place, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

What The Company Said

Keefe asked a plain question. Why can’t I opt out? Why can’t the spouse or the ex-spouse of a police officer opt out of this record of where they drive?

Josh Thomas is Flock’s chief communications officer told Atlanta News First that the whole community is the customer. He said you cannot opt out because your car can be stolen, and because the government already requires a license plate. He called it plain viewing information.

Then he said, Why can’t you opt out? You can, if you want to opt out of society.

That is two different things. The cameras record cars that do not belong to Flock. The worker called the police when a reporter recorded him doing the install.

Who gets to watch

Flock sells automated license-plate readers to police. The company says the cameras make people safer, and that abuses come from how police use the data, not from the collection itself.

The reader still cannot refuse the camera and keep driving the same roads. Thomas said the way out is to opt out of society.

So the question is not only who is watching. It is who is allowed to watch back. And who is allowed to say no.

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What the Bible says

God watches. That is not the same thing as a company watching.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 15:3

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
2 Chronicles 16:9

The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.
Psalm 33:13–15

God sees the heart. A camera sees a plate. God is not selling the record. Man is not God, and a city contract does not make him God.

God’s watch is a comfort to the person who trusts Him. A company’s watch is a file. One is the Lord. The other is a business that called the police when someone filmed the camera.

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