Guest Post by Leo Hohmann
Social media activists are taking on major American big-box retailers in hopes of getting them to terminate their contracts with the Atlanta-based AI surveillance company Flock Group Inc., doing business as “Flock Safety.”
Flock makes AI-powered spy cameras, drones and automated license-plate readers.
A letter sent by 56 online activists, public figures, and content creators with a combined follower count of over 46 million demands that Lowe’s and Home Depot end their contracts with Flock, according to a report by Cybernews.
Those who signed the letter say they create “DIY and home improvement content for a living” and often visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy products.
Among the signatories are TikTok comedian Spencer Earl and former NASA engineer Susan Martinez, according to Cybernews, which added:
In the letter addressed to the CEOs of Lowe’s and Home Depot, these activists say Flock’s network has been used to aid ICE agents in raiding, stalking, and detaining people, which would include American citizens mistaken for illegals.
“As some of the largest commercial customers of Flock Safety, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot cannot continue to put customers in danger with this contract,” according to the letter, available at DeFlockLowes.com.
The letter also highlighted the irony of the situation by saying that stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot “profit daily off immigrant day laborers” but are happy to share their data with “hostile organizations that want to cause them harm.”
Flock has had cameras in the parking lots of Lowe’s and Home Depot since at least August 2025 and the two companies share data with cops from hundreds of cameras, according to a report from 404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The records are the latest to shed light on how expansive Flock’s surveillance network has become, and highlights that it includes cameras that are operated by both police and private businesses.
“What we’re learning is that two of the country’s most popular home-improvement stores are contributing to the massive surveillance dragnet coordinated by Flock Safety,” Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, says he’s a fan of Flock cameras.
But it’s not just Lowe’s and Home Depot catching heat in the backlash over Flock spy cameras.
Privacy advocates are targeting retail stores of all types that have partnerships with the Atlanta company that has built a nationwide surveillance network and has a partnership with all levels of government.
“There is simply no need for Ulta Beauty to be one of Flock’s biggest commercial customers,” Rachel LaPointe, a content creator and Substack writer, said in a video that had 732,000 views across her TikTok and Instagram accounts.
LaPointe, who has a Substack newsletter focused on police violence against women, told Business Insider that her issues with Flock stem from reported instances of the surveillance system being used to track women.
There have been hundreds of cases nationwide of police “misusing” the data from Flock’s license-plate reader database, which tracks and logs the movements of vehicles in all 50 states. There have also been an equally disturbing number of cases of people being arrested on false charges due to an officer misinterpreting Flock data and detaining the wrong person for a crime they did not commit.
Total control starts with total surveillance. And there’s no more concerning surveillance network than one that involves a tag-team of big government working in tandem with big business. They call it a public-private partnership — a modern term for an old system of predatory rule called fascism.
BOTTOM LINE: Today it’s immigrants but what if tomorrow it is conservative Christians or those seeking to avoid being drafted into Trump’s wars? And what about violators of the coming energy lockdowns? The application of this technology has the potential to cut in many directions. You were caught on camera traveling more than five miles from your home under emergency-energy lockdowns and will receive an automated fine in the mail. It’s never as one-dimensional as the official narrative suggests. If anyone thinks the AI surveillance tools produced by Flock and other companies like Axon, Motorola and Leonardo were designed to be used solely against criminals and illigal immigrants to “keep us safe,” all I can say is this: Don’t be naive. Question everything. And always assume the worst from your government and its corporate “partners.” Their track record, which includes the Covid indignities of just five years ago, deserves nothing less.
Let me know in the comments if you believe these major retail chain-stores deserve to be boycotted for sharing customers’ data with the government.
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[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
Lowe’s, Home Depot and others are called on to cancel their contracts with the Atlanta-based AI surveillance company.
Social media activists are taking on major American big-box retailers in hopes of getting them to terminate their contracts with the Atlanta-based AI surveillance company Flock Group Inc., doing business as “Flock Safety.”
Flock makes AI-powered spy cameras, drones and automated license-plate readers.
A letter sent by 56 online activists, public figures, and content creators with a combined follower count of over 46 million demands that Lowe’s and Home Depot end their contracts with Flock, according to a report by Cybernews.
Those who signed the letter say they create “DIY and home improvement content for a living” and often visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy products.
Among the signatories are TikTok comedian Spencer Earl and former NASA engineer Susan Martinez, according to Cybernews, which added:
In the letter addressed to the CEOs of Lowe’s and Home Depot, these activists say Flock’s network has been used to aid ICE agents in raiding, stalking, and detaining people, which would include American citizens mistaken for illegals.
“As some of the largest commercial customers of Flock Safety, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot cannot continue to put customers in danger with this contract,” according to the letter, available at DeFlockLowes.com.
The letter also highlighted the irony of the situation by saying that stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot “profit daily off immigrant day laborers” but are happy to share their data with “hostile organizations that want to cause them harm.”
Flock has had cameras in the parking lots of Lowe’s and Home Depot since at least August 2025 and the two companies share data with cops from hundreds of cameras, according to a report from 404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The records are the latest to shed light on how expansive Flock’s surveillance network has become, and highlights that it includes cameras that are operated by both police and private businesses.
“What we’re learning is that two of the country’s most popular home-improvement stores are contributing to the massive surveillance dragnet coordinated by Flock Safety,” Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, says he’s a fan of Flock cameras.
But it’s not just Lowe’s and Home Depot catching heat in the backlash over Flock spy cameras.
Privacy advocates are targeting retail stores of all types that have partnerships with the Atlanta company that has built a nationwide surveillance network and has a partnership with all levels of government.
“There is simply no need for Ulta Beauty to be one of Flock’s biggest commercial customers,” Rachel LaPointe, a content creator and Substack writer, said in a video that had 732,000 views across her TikTok and Instagram accounts.
LaPointe, who has a Substack newsletter focused on police violence against women, told Business Insider that her issues with Flock stem from reported instances of the surveillance system being used to track women.
There have been hundreds of cases nationwide of police “misusing” the data from Flock’s license-plate reader database, which tracks and logs the movements of vehicles in all 50 states. There have also been an equally disturbing number of cases of people being arrested on false charges due to an officer misinterpreting Flock data and detaining the wrong person for a crime they did not commit.
Total control starts with total surveillance. And there’s no more concerning surveillance network than one that involves a tag-team of big government working in tandem with big business. They call it a public-private partnership — a modern term for an old system of predatory rule called fascism.
BOTTOM LINE: Today it’s immigrants but what if tomorrow it is conservative Christians or those seeking to avoid being drafted into Trump’s wars? And what about violators of the coming energy lockdowns? The application of this technology has the potential to cut in many directions. You were caught on camera traveling more than five miles from your home under emergency-energy lockdowns and will receive an automated fine in the mail. It’s never as one-dimensional as the official narrative suggests. If anyone thinks the AI surveillance tools produced by Flock and other companies like Axon, Motorola and Leonardo were designed to be used solely against criminals and illigal immigrants to “keep us safe,” all I can say is this: Don’t be naive. Question everything. And always assume the worst from your government and its corporate “partners.” Their track record, which includes the Covid indignities of just five years ago, deserves nothing less.
Let me know in the comments if you believe these major retail chain-stores deserve to be boycotted for sharing customers’ data with the government.
Tweet
Continue reading...
[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
