Flock Exposed - Rekor Systems
Rekor Systems is a Maryland-based, publicly traded company, listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker REKR, that positions itself as a lower-cost alternative to Flock and Motorola - and it is currently the subject of one of the largest documented ALPR class action lawsuits in the country.
Source: GlobeNewswire, "Rekor Redefines Privacy, Security and Sharing for License Plate Data for Commercial and Government Users"
A Cheaper Way In: Turning Any Camera Into a Plate Reader
Rekor's core software product, OpenALPR, and its newer branded version, Rekor Scout, enable license plate and vehicle recognition on nearly any existing IP, traffic, or security camera, rather than requiring a town or agency to buy dedicated hardware.
Source: OpenALPR by Rekor, product pages; Rekor.ai, "Rekor Scout for AI-Driven ALPR and Vehicle Recognition"
Rekor markets this directly as a cost advantage: rather than buying expensive cameras that take weeks or months to ship and install, Rekor's software can be deployed to any existing camera immediately, representing a potential substantial savings per camera.
Source: Rekor Systems, "Rekor Systems Selected by Department of Defense to Provide Automatic License Plate Recognition Software"
This is a meaningfully different business model than Flock's or Motorola's dedicated hardware networks - it means a much lower barrier for any town, business, or agency to stand up a license plate surveillance system using cameras they already own, and it has made Rekor a common entry point for smaller and lower-budget deployments nationwide.
Source: Compiled analysis based on Rekor's own product marketing
Rekor's reach extends beyond local policing: the company was selected to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with automatic license plate recognition software, putting its technology inside federal military installations as well as local town contracts.
Source: Traffic Technology Today, "Rekor Systems to supply US Department of Defense with ALPR software"
Industry critics have also raised concern about Rekor's acquisition of OpenALPR itself, warning at the time that the previously open and widely available software would be pulled away from custom independent use and folded into Rekor's own commercial platform.
Source: IPVM Discussions, "OpenALPR And Rekor - Has Anyone Else Gotten Feedback From These Folks?"
The Westchester County Lawsuit: 1.6 Billion Scans
The Westchester County Police Department contracts with Rekor to provide the software behind its Vehicle Surveillance System, using Rekor's AI-powered tools to instantly analyze vast amounts of vehicle surveillance data collected across the county.
Source: New York Civil Liberties Union, "Westchester County Police are Using License Plate Readers to Track Millions of Drivers"
Four motorists, represented by civil rights attorneys, filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Westchester's roughly 575 to 600-camera ALPR network has captured approximately 1.6 billion license plate reads.
Source: Recording Law, "Westchester License Plate Reader Lawsuit: 1.6 Billion Scans (2026)"; NBC New York, "Westchester County drivers sue to stop deployment of nearly 600 license plate readers"
The lawsuit alleges Westchester County never obtained proper authorization to launch the program at all, and that the resulting 1.6 billion-scan database has been shared with more than 50 outside law enforcement agencies.
Source: NBC New York, "Westchester County drivers sue to stop deployment of nearly 600 license plate readers"; Insurance Journal, "Motorists Sue NY County Over 1.6 Billion License Plate Scans"
The complaint documents just how often ordinary, non-suspect drivers are swept up by the system: one plaintiff's car was scanned more than 2,400 times.
Source: Hoodline, "Westchester Drivers Sue Over 1.6 Billion License Scans"
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the entire system unlawful and to bar Westchester County from operating it going forward.
Source: Hoodline, "Westchester Drivers Sue Over 1.6 Billion License Scans"
Rekor's Own Pitch for Regulation
Unlike Flock, Rekor has publicly called for a national industry standard governing ALPR technology, stating that the escalating conflict over ALPR is producing the worst possible outcome, in which communities are losing trust and law enforcement agencies are losing a valuable tool at the same time.
Source: Rekor Systems, "Rekor Systems Calls for a National Industry Standard to Preserve the Public-Safety Value of ALPR"
Rekor's proposal urges ALPR providers, law enforcement agencies, and lawmakers to adopt three pillars: privacy-protected plate data, purpose-based retention limits, and verifiable video integrity, including cryptographic protection of non-hotlist data and auditable re-identification processes.
Source: StockTitan, "Rekor proposes three rules to control license-plate camera data"; BriefGlance, "Rekor Systems Pushes for National ALPR Standard Amid Growing Privacy Concerns"
Readers should weigh that public pitch for restraint against the Westchester County lawsuit's allegations playing out against Rekor's own technology at the same time - a company can publicly call for guardrails while a system built on its software is separately accused in court of operating for years with no real ones.
Why This Matters
Rekor shows that the ALPR surveillance problem is not just a story about one company. Because its software can be loaded onto virtually any camera a town, business, or agency already owns, it lowers the cost and effort of standing up a mass surveillance network dramatically compared to Flock or Motorola - meaning a town that rejects Flock on cost or privacy grounds can still end up with the same basic capability through a Rekor-powered system, often with far less public visibility.
Questions to Ask Your Town
Does your town, or any nearby county, use Rekor's OpenALPR or Rekor Scout software on cameras it already owns? If so, who approved turning those cameras into license plate readers, and was that decision made publicly? How long is the resulting data retained, and has it ever been shared with outside agencies, the way Westchester County's data was shared with more than 50 of them? Has anyone verified whether cameras originally installed for traffic or security purposes in your town have since been quietly upgraded with plate-reading software?
This page will be updated as more factual sources become available.