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Krishnamoorthi seeks FTC probe into Flock for threats to Americans’ data
The congressman said the company’s weak cybersecurity leaves Americans vulnerable to hackers and foreign spies.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 04, Nov 2025
- 12:54 EST
- 25
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Raja Krishnamoorthi / File Photo
Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company, for failing to protect Americans’ personal data.
In a letter co-signed by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and addressed to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Krishnamoorthi said Flock’s weak cybersecurity practices had left sensitive information vulnerable to hackers and foreign actors.
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The lawmakers warned that the company’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) network, which records billions of vehicle scans each month, could allow bad actors to track people’s movements to medical clinics, houses of worship, or protests.
“Flock has received vast sums of taxpayer money to build a national surveillance network,” Krishnamoorthi and Wyden wrote. “But Flock’s cavalier attitude towards cybersecurity needlessly exposes Americans to the threat of hackers and foreign spies tapping this data.”
Flock operates in 49 states and provides surveillance services to more than 5,000 police departments and 1,000 private businesses, making it the largest operator of license plate cameras in the country.
According to cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, passwords for at least 35 Flock customer accounts have been stolen by hackers. The company does not require multi-factor authentication (MFA) for its law enforcement clients and lacks support for phishing-resistant MFA, the standard required for all federal agencies.
Krishnamoorthi said the company’s “National Lookup Tool,” which allows law enforcement agencies to access each other’s data, further heightens the risk. About 75 percent of Flock’s law enforcement clients have opted into the system, meaning that a single compromised account could expose data nationwide.
The letter also cited reports of password sharing among law enforcement officers. In one case, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent reportedly used another officer’s credentials to access Flock’s database — a lapse that, the lawmakers said, underscored “serious weaknesses in Flock’s internal controls.”
Krishnamoorthi and Wyden asked the FTC to determine whether Flock’s practices violate Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair business practices. They pointed to previous FTC actions against Uber and Chegg for similar failures to implement adequate cybersecurity measures.
In August, Krishnamoorthi and Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) launched a separate inquiry after reports that law enforcement used Flock’s network to track women traveling across state lines for reproductive care and to conduct unauthorized immigration surveillance.
The congressman said such incidents underline “the urgent need for oversight of private surveillance networks funded by public money.”
Flock has faced growing scrutiny nationwide. Senator Wyden previously criticized the company for allowing federal agencies to access local data despite privacy assurances. The American Civil Liberties Union has also warned that Flock’s expanding camera network poses “a major threat to civil liberties and personal privacy.”
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