About Flock in New York
New York City's Flock camera network operates alongside an existing extensive surveillance infrastructure that already includes thousands of city-operated cameras. The combination creates what privacy advocates call the most comprehensive vehicle tracking network in any American city. The five boroughs plus Long Island and New Jersey suburbs dramatically expand the effective network.
Primary corridors: All major avenues, outer borough bridges and tunnels, LIE, I-278, suburban corridors.
Cameras are deployed by a mix of the local police department, county sheriff, and private homeowners associations — all connected to the same law enforcement database. Any officer at any of the 3,000+ agencies on Flock's network can query vehicle movement history with no warrant.
Local News & Stories
EFF Documents NYPD Using Flock Data to Track Protesters at NYC Demonstrations
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's 2025 investigation of 12 million Flock searches found that New York area agencies ran searches connected to protest activity, including demonstrations in Manhattan. The searches occurred without warrants or judicial oversight.
New York Legislature Considers ALPR Warrant Requirement — Bill Stalls
New York state legislators introduced a bill requiring warrants for ALPR data access after 30 days. The bill passed committee but stalled on the full floor vote after law enforcement lobbying. Advocates pledged to reintroduce it in 2026.
Long Island Suburbs Deploy Dense Flock Networks Through HOA Contracts
Nassau and Suffolk County municipalities have deployed Flock cameras through a combination of police department contracts and private HOA agreements, creating a network that effectively tracks every vehicle entering and exiting Long Island suburbs.
Known Camera Corridors
These corridors have the highest confirmed or estimated camera density in the New York area:
- Major bridges and tunnels
- All borough-crossing routes
- Long Island Expressway corridor
- Suburban HOA networks — Nassau and Suffolk counties
Camera locations are estimated based on crowdsourced data from DeFlock and community reports. See the full map for individual camera positions.
What Flock Cameras Collect in New York
Every Flock camera in New York captures:
- Your license plate number and state
- Vehicle make, model, color, and body type
- Distinguishing features — bumper stickers, roof racks, window stickers, body damage
- Direction of travel and exact timestamp
- GPS coordinates of the camera location
- A photograph of your vehicle
This data is stored for 30+ days and is instantly accessible to over 3,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide — including agencies in other states.
Is It Legal to Avoid These Cameras?
Yes, completely legal. You have an absolute right to choose which roads you drive on. There is no law in New York — or any other state — that prohibits planning your route to avoid surveillance cameras. UnFlocked's privacy routing feature helps you exercise this right.
See every camera in New York
Open the full map to see individual camera locations, click any camera for details, and plan a route that avoids them.
Open New York Camera Map →