01Summary
stegan0gram took down a Flock Safety camera and copied almost all of its storage. Despite Flock's claims of on-device encryption, the key was stored on the device and unlocked the camera's images and video. The files went to 404 Media and the transparency non-profit Distributed Denial of Secrets, which passed them to WIRED. The outlets published their joint analysis on 16 September 2026. Over 21 days the camera ran about 20 Flock apps, photographed about 50,200 vehicles and produced 1.6 million images, around 28 per passing vehicle and sometimes more than 100. The analysis found person-detection capability as well as vehicle tracking, and plate-recognition errors: bumper stickers, dealer frames and even an American flag patch on a motorcycle saddlebag were read as plates. Flock said removing and tampering with its cameras is illegal.
02Key revelations
- 01Flock cameras can detect people, not just vehicles.
- 02The encryption key protecting footage was stored on the camera itself.
- 03The plate-recognition model misreads stickers and patches as plates.
03Technical analysis
- Attack vector
- Physical removal of a deployed camera
- Attack method
- Hardware extraction and decryption of on-device storage
04Threat actor
stegan0gram is an anti-surveillance hacker collective.
05Victims and impact
Countries affected
- United States
06Data exposed
Data types
- Vehicle images
- Licence plate reads
- Detection video
- Camera software
07Timeline
- 2026-09-16404 Media and WIRED publish their analysis of the extracted camera data.
08On the record
Why just destroy them when we can reverse engineer them and find the secrets of those spying on us?
The unauthorized removal and tampering of a Flock camera is illegal.
09Reaction and fallout
Public reaction
Adds to 2026 pushback on Flock: more than 50 US jurisdictions cancelled, suspended or rejected Flock contracts during the year.
10Significance and legacy
Significance
The first public look inside a deployed Flock camera, contradicting the company's privacy claims.
11Disclosure and media
Publishing organisations
- 404 Media
- WIRED
- Distributed Denial of Secrets
- NewsNation
13Field notes
- 01An American flag patch on a motorcycle bag was cropped and read as a licence plate.
14Sources
References
- [1]NewsNation: https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/hackers-rip-down-flock-camera-share-findings/
- [2]The Next Web: https://thenextweb.com/news/flock-camera-hacked-encryption-key-no-flock-act
- [3]The National Desk: https://thenationaldesk.com/news/americas-news-now/hackers-breach-flock-camera-data-share-findings-with-media-surveillance-system-vehicle