Flock Pitched Turning Ubers and Lyfts Into Mobile Plate Readers

Flock Safety reportedly proposed converting 350,000 Uber, Lyft, and delivery vehicles into a rolling network of automated license plate readers, according to documents obtained by 404 Media.

The plan, had it gone forward, would have expanded Flock's reach dramatically while shifting the company away from its reliance on stationary hardware.

Flock currently leads a crowded ALPR market that includes Axon and Motorola, and the United States already hosts more than 120,000 fixed cameras of this kind. The pitch described in the presentation would have moved much of that collection off poles and into moving traffic. Flock brought the proposal to Georgia's Office of the Attorney General in August 2025.

The presentation referenced a proposed partnership with dashcam maker Nexar, describing it as including "350k Uber/Lyft and other delivery service devices." That framing points to a private ALPR network far larger and more mobile than anything currently deployed.

Flock's standard cameras are stationary. They read plates along with a vehicle's make, model, color, and other identifying details as it passes a fixed point. Placing that same capability inside a rideshare car means the collection zone travels with the vehicle. Every airport run, grocery trip, apartment-complex pickup, or late-night fare becomes another data point fed into the network.

Mobile ALPRs are not new in themselves. Police departments run them in patrol cars, and repossession firms have long deployed camera-equipped vehicles to track down cars. What the presentation describes reaches well beyond either use. As outlined, it could have created a roaming private ALPR network accessible to multiple organizations and entities.

The documents do not clarify whether Uber, Lyft, the drivers, or their passengers would have known what data was being gathered or where it was going. Uber, Lyft, and Nexar did not respond to requests for comment. Even without the deal moving forward, the presentation indicates how far the company's ambitions may have extended, and the scale of the proposed data sources raises questions about oversight and access.

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