January 9, 2026
Never hacked? The comments disagree
Flock Hardcoded the Password for America's Surveillance Infrastructure 53 Times
Leaked “master key” to a nationwide spy map—commenters roast Flock
TLDR: A researcher says Flock Safety exposed a “master key” that could unlock 50 private police-and-camera map layers across the U.S. Commenters are furious—calling the company dishonest or incompetent—while others debate responsible disclosure vs. legal consequences, underscoring how fragile a nationwide surveillance hub can be.
The internet is lighting up after a researcher says Flock Safety—a company running one of the biggest networks of license plate readers, drones, and police cams—left a “master passcode” in public code not once, but 53 times. That single key allegedly opened 50 private map layers, revealing where patrol cars, drones, 911 calls, and cameras are across thousands of agencies. In simple terms: one exposed key to America’s surveillance kingdom. Commenters pounced on Flock’s oft-repeated line—“We’ve never been hacked”—calling it corporate gaslighting. One user flatly says they’re lying, while others call it “sheer incompetence.” The vibe: outrage with a side of popcorn. The hot takes got hotter. Some framed it as tech bros playing dystopian cosplay—“MBAs with a hardon for sci‑fi dystopia”—while the legal eagles argued whether this should be a quiet, responsible disclosure or a full-on federal case. Procurement drama surfaced too: people recalled ShotSpotter fights in city halls and warned that flashy sales decks keep outrunning basic security checks. The memes write themselves: jokes about the password being “password123,” and riffs on the “One Map” slogan turning into “One Key to Rule Them All.” For the non-nerds, this “API key” is basically a long-lasting pass that should’ve been locked down by website, location, and scope—just like ArcGIS’s own docs say. The community verdict? If you build a nationwide surveillance hub, you don’t get to leave the back door wide open.
Key Points
- •A default Esri ArcGIS API key was embedded in Flock Safety’s public-facing JavaScript bundles.
- •The key had no referrer, IP, or origin restrictions and granted access to 50 private ArcGIS items.
- •The credential appeared across 53 endpoints, each independently enabling access to Flock’s ArcGIS platform.
- •Flock Safety’s infrastructure aggregates data (e.g., license plate detections, patrol car and drone locations) from ~12,000 deployments.
- •Esri documentation advises setting scopes and referrers; the article states Flock applied none, using a default organization-wide key.