August 11, 2026
Your driver may also be watching
Flock wanted to tap dashcams in rideshare vechicles to add to surveillance data
Drivers nearly became rolling spy cams, and commenters are absolutely not chill
TLDR: Flock explored a plan to tap dashcams in Uber, Lyft, and delivery vehicles to gather license plate data, though it says the deal never happened. Commenters still freaked out, with many calling it dystopian surveillance, while a few argued it could help in emergencies like Amber Alerts.
The big reveal here isn’t just that surveillance company Flock reportedly wanted to use dashcams in Uber, Lyft, and delivery cars to scoop up license plate data — it’s that the comment section instantly turned into a privacy panic, a movie reference marathon, and a fight over whether anyone can stop this at all. According to 404 Media, Flock pitched a plan involving dashcam company Nexar and a huge pool of rideshare devices, though Flock says the partnership was never actually carried out. Still, for readers, the fact that the idea even made it onto slides was enough to set off alarms.
The strongest reaction? This is getting way too creepy, way too fast. One commenter basically said the only real fix is hard government rules and actual privacy rights in law, because if one city says no, another will say yes, and if fixed cameras get blocked, companies will just find another way. That bleak "you can’t outrun the cameras" vibe hung over the whole thread.
Then came the spicy villain energy. One user called Flock exactly what you’d expect from a movie bad guy: greedy, unethical, and somehow getting support from places that should know better. Another pounced on the CEO’s stated mission to eliminate crime in America and dropped the perfect joke: "I think I saw that movie, it was called Minority Report." Not everyone was fully against it, though. One person pointed out it could help during an Amber Alert, which added just enough real-world tension to keep the debate messy. In other words: classic internet drama — fear, jokes, doom, and one lonely practicality check.
Key Points
- •Flock created a plan to expand its license plate reader network by partnering with Nexar and using rideshare and delivery drivers’ dashcam devices.
- •Flock told 404 Media that the proposed partnership with Nexar was never executed.
- •A presentation prepared for the Georgia Office of the Attorney General said hundreds of commercial businesses and HOAs in Georgia were already part of Flock’s network.
- •The presentation referenced a proposed Nexar partnership involving 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and other delivery service devices.
- •The article links the proposal to Flock’s broader surveillance activities, including planned work with Ring and helping ICE access footage from Lowe’s and Home Depot.