· Fairfax County, VA · Company
Flock CEO tells Fairfax County its Virginia data is closed to federal users and kept out of AI training, ahead of an Oct. 20 review
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley sent a letter to Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay ahead of the board's Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 Safety and Security Committee meeting on the county police plate-reader program, WUSA9 reported on Oct. 19. According to WUSA9, Langley wrote that "Virginia-based Flock customers are not visible to federal users or out-of-state agencies for sharing requests," that a statewide filter blocks searches related to immigration enforcement, and that Virginia agencies' data is purged after a maximum of 21 days. He also wrote that "no Virginia agency data is included" in Flock's machine-learning training, based on the company's reading of Virginia law, that the cameras take still images of vehicles only with no live video or facial recognition, and that Free Form Search is moderated to flag or block queries that could infringe First Amendment rights. Langley offered to bring Flock's legal, policy and product teams to meet with supervisors. WUSA9 said McKay wants to pause new Flock cameras while officials review how police use and share the data; supervisors paused new installations on Sept. 15 until this meeting. The county police presentation for Oct. 20 lists three options, all of which keep plate readers. These are the company's own statements, not an independent audit.
Sources
- WUSA9 (Oct. 19)
- Fairfax County Safety and Security Committee agenda (Oct. 20)
- Fairfax County Police ALPR presentation (Oct. 20)
- FFXnow (Sept. 16)
We summarize what the cited reporting says and link it so you can check us. Read our editorial standards; spot an error? See the corrections log.
What you can do
Find out what your own town's cameras collect and who can search them.
Request my town's records →For Flock's Sake is independent and ad-free. If it helped, chip in to keep it running ($5 tip or from $3/month, secure checkout by Stripe).
More news
- Quincy, Massachusetts council votes to recommend removing or covering the city's Flock cameras (October 19, 2026)
- Sherman, Texas council votes 7-0 not to renew its Flock contract (October 19, 2026)
- Excelsior Springs, Missouri council approves removing its 15 Flock cameras; the contract ends in November (October 19, 2026)