Lydia Fortuna joined No ALPRs in 2024 after learning about Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers. About a year later, her roommate was stopped by police due to a misread license plate. Now Fortuna is walking to cameras in Austin, part of a “Flock Walk” where participants learn more about how the technology is used.
The No ALPRs Coalition
A group called the No ALPRs coalition brings together the Texas Civil Rights Project, Local Progress, Austin Democratic Socialists of America, and Grassroots Leadership. Last June, Austin’s city council voted to cancel its deal with Flock. One council member, Mike Siegel, opposed the contract renewal and sits on the board of Local Progress.
The Austin movement produced “a collection of community-based organizations that formed what they call the No ALPRs Coalition,” according to Siegel, who has been bringing in recruits from across the nation to join the fight against it.
Casar Pushes Against the Cameras
D-Austin Representative Greg Casar, who is a Democrat, has spoken out against the cameras. His remarks included this statement: “We’ve got to stop these AI companies from having your private data.”
Casar went on to say: “It used to take one FBI agent or one creepy person a lot of work to track someone, but now with AI tools, one person, be they law enforcement or be they just an everyday person on the street, can track literally thousands of people at once.”
Pflugerville’s Records Request
The mayor of Pflugerville, Doug Weiss, confirmed that a list exists showing which companies have access to the city’s Flock data. The request came from a local resident seeking details on organizations that had been pulling that information. Weiss described the approved group as consisting of 83 vendors.
Weiss said 459 agencies across the country had access to the city’s data. That request led to a cancellation of the contracts. Other cities followed suit, including Leander, Bastrop and Manor, citing data privacy concerns.
Metayer’s Strong Words
Pflugerville Council Member Rudy Metayer, also a part of Local Progress, spoke strongly against the contract. He said: “Let’s be blunt here. They’re a terrible company, not a bad partner. A terrible company.”
Metayer added the following: “And to see over and over again, them not learning from us. We were in this room, what, six — eight months ago? And lying to our face about what the hell they do.”
The Texas Civil Rights Project’s Next Move
The Texas Civil Rights Project’s associate advocacy director, Chris Harris, made the statement “We see Flock cameras and automated license plate readers … as something that ultimately is incompatible with our privacy as people in the community.”
The remark came from Harris, who stated: “And we believe that the solution is to take these cameras down and not collect the data about the travel habits of everybody across our community and across our state and our country.”
In 2027, the Texas Civil Rights Project has launched an effort to fight automated license plate readers at the state legislature.
Flock’s Spending
The source’s own reporting states that Flock Safety has spent more than $2 million on federal and state lobbying since 2025.
How the Movement Expanded
The DeFlock movement has grown beyond Austin. Cities like Leander, Bastrop and Manor canceled contracts after Pflugerville’s records request showed 459 agencies had access to the city’s data.
- Austin City Council voted to end its contract with Flock in June of last year.
- Pflugerville residents requested records, revealing 83 approved vendors and 459 agencies accessing data.
- Contracts were canceled in Pflugerville, and other cities followed suit, including Leander, Bastrop and Manor.
- Siegel has recruited people from around the country into the No ALPRs coalition.
- The Texas Civil Rights Project is organizing a push against automated license plate readers at the Texas Legislature in 2027.
Other cities cited data privacy concerns in their own decisions when it came to local data access, while the records request revealed a national network of access.
The No ALPRs coalition is ready for statewide action.
Who is protecting what
The practical effect of Flock Safety’s spending on lobbying is clear: the company keeps pushing its automated license plate readers onto local governments. The paper suspects that spending is meant to protect its revenue and market position, not to serve the public interest.
The paper also suspects that the No ALPRs coalition is protecting its political influence. Siegel sits on the board of Local Progress, the same group whose members speak against Flock. The coalition brings together the Texas Civil Rights Project, Local Progress, Austin Democratic Socialists of America, and Grassroots Leadership — a mix of civil rights, left-wing, and grassroots organizations that have joined forces against the company.
Ask yourself why: why would a company spend millions on lobbying while cities move to cancel contracts? Why would activists form a coalition that includes a council member who sits on the board of one of its members? The answers point to money, market position, and control — not to any single party or corporation, but to the system itself, which rewards both sides for fighting each other while letting the cameras keep rolling.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.