By Abigail Hall, University of Tampa
In Summary:
Florida has ordered automated license plate readers removed from state highway rights-of-way following growing concerns about surveillance and misuse of the technology. The Apopka Police Department says it will comply with the directive while continuing to emphasize the cameras’ value in recovering stolen vehicles and investigating serious crimes. For Apopka residents, the broader issue is how plate data is stored, searched, shared, and audited — and how the public can verify that safeguards are working.
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Automated license plate readers like Flock cameras have quietly appeared on roadsides across the U.S.
Related: Flock cameras fuel privacy debate across Florida.
Florida is no exception: Over the past several years, law enforcement agencies across the state have signed contracts with Flock Safety, one of the largest purveyors of this technology. Crowdsourced mapping projects currently show nearly 10,000 cameras in Florida, with concentrations around major metropolitan areas. This is likely an undercount, as these are the units observed by the public, not an official tally.
But in the summer of 2026, reports of widespread abuse of this technology – both in Florida and nationwide – began to surface.
In late August, Florida banned Flock cameras from state highways. But questions about these technologies, the networks they link to, and the safeguards surrounding them remain.
As a Florida-based economist who has spent the past 15 years working at the intersection of economics, politics, surveillance and civil liberties, I think such conversations are long overdue.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. To read the rest of the article, go here.
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Flock cameras in Apopka
The Apopka Police Department says license plate readers help solve crimes, while the state’s restrictions leave broader questions about data collection and oversight unresolved.
Florida’s move to remove automated license plate readers from state highway rights-of-way has brought a national surveillance debate home to Apopka. The APD uses the technology, and its response to the state directive outlines both its investigative value and the safeguards intended to prevent abuse.
In a September 2 statement, the APD pledged to comply with Florida Department of Transportation requirements. APD credited the readers with helping recover stolen vehicles, locate missing or wanted people, and identify vehicles connected to serious crimes.
For residents, the debate reaches beyond whether a camera remains beside a particular road. It also concerns what happens to the information collected, who can search it, and how the public can assess whether safeguards are working.
What Florida’s restrictions cover
FDOT revoked approvals for law enforcement license plate readers within state highway rights-of-way and gave agencies 30 days to remove the equipment. The directive applies to automated plate readers, including those supplied by Flock Safety, rather than targeting only one company’s products.
That geographic scope matters. Removing devices from state highway rights-of-way does not, by itself, establish a universal prohibition on cameras throughout a community or answer every question about information already collected.
Apopka’s September statement promised compliance, but it did not provide a camera inventory, identify removal locations, or announce a department-wide suspension. The statement therefore should not be read as confirmation that every local reader has been shut down.
How a plate scan becomes a privacy concern
Automated license plate readers convert photographs of plates into searchable information. A Florida House staff analysis explains that records can include a plate image and the date, time and location of the scan. Identifying the person associated with a plate requires a separate authorized database inquiry.
The privacy concern follows from combining those records: repeated sightings could reveal a vehicle’s movements over time. A trip to work, a medical appointment or a religious service could become part of a searchable travel history even when the driver is not suspected of wrongdoing.
That is the distinction residents must weigh. A tool capable of locating a stolen car can also collect information about ordinary travel.
Apopka’s stated safeguards
APD says it generally retains reader data for 30 days, with exceptions for authorized investigations or legal requirements. Searches must serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose and be documented through a case number or another authorized investigation.
The department also describes quarterly audits, administrative reviews, and restricted access. Unauthorized or personal use can result in discipline, including termination.
Those policies establish the department’s stated expectations. Assessing their effectiveness would require additional information about audit findings, enforcement, and data sharing.
The local questions that remain
For Apopka, a fuller public accounting could explain how many readers remain active, what agencies can access locally collected records, and how searches by outside agencies are monitored. It could also distinguish routine deletion from preservation for an investigation.
Residents and commissioners could evaluate the program more clearly with aggregate information about its results: crimes solved, stolen vehicles recovered, missing people located, and instances of improper access. Such reporting could help measure the technology’s benefits alongside the effectiveness of its safeguards.
Florida’s action has changed where law enforcement cameras may operate on state roads. In Apopka, the continuing issue is how the city demonstrates that a useful investigative tool is being used responsibly—and how residents can verify that their everyday movements are protected.
Key Points:
- Florida revoked approvals for automated license plate readers located within state highway rights-of-way, but the action is not a statewide ban on the technology.
- The Apopka Police Department says license plate readers have helped recover stolen vehicles, locate missing or wanted people, and identify vehicles connected to serious crimes.
- APD says it generally retains license plate reader data for 30 days, with exceptions for investigations and legal requirements.
- The department says searches must have a legitimate law enforcement purpose and are subject to access restrictions, administrative review, and quarterly audits.
- Questions remain about how many cameras operate in Apopka, whether outside agencies can access them, audit results, and how often the technology produces investigative results.
