A new analysis by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveals widespread misuse of Flock’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance system by law enforcement. Officers across numerous jurisdictions have logged nonsensical or flippant reasons, such as “LMAO,” “LOL,” “idk,” and “asdfg,” when searching the massive database of vehicle locations. This casual approach to accessing sensitive data, which can track citizens’ movements, highlights a significant failure in oversight and raises serious privacy concerns. Despite claims that ALPRs are crucial for solving serious crimes, the evidence suggests police often treat this powerful surveillance tool as a personal search engine for trivial or unjustified purposes. Flock has since altered its system, removing the open-ended reason box in favor of a drop-down menu, which the EFF views as a loss for transparency.