THE CRUNCH
Proton AG, the company behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN, is now hosting a map of more than 300,000 Flock cameras built by security researcher Joshua Michael from leaked Flock data. Flock, which makes automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR) cameras used by law enforcement, sent Michael a cease-and-desist letter, and his original Flock Surveillance Map remains online but is accessible only from within the U.S. Proton's mirror sits on Swiss servers and is reachable worldwide; as Tom's Hardware observes, its Swiss location also makes it a little more complicated for the surveillance company to take legal action.
"You have a right to know who's recording you when you leave home, especially when a private company controls the data and it's unclear how law enforcement uses that information," Proton said. The map lets users search by ZIP code to find Flock's licence plate readers, and the company encourages people to use it to decide how they move through their area and whether to contact municipal leaders.
The debate over ALPR cameras is live: police argue they help keep communities safer, while critics point to documented misuse, including cases of officers using Flock cameras to stalk romantic partners and one mistaken-identity case linked to a lapse in police procedure. One caveat worth knowing: Proton's map is based on data from November 2025, so it is a snapshot of Flock's network at that time rather than a live view. For more current locations, MapQuest recently added an update showing ALPR cameras from Flock and other companies.