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Proton publishes map of Flock license-plate cameras by ZIP code
Proton posted a ZIP-searchable map of Flock Safety automated license-plate readers, using a December 2025 inventory compiled by researcher Joshua Michael after an exposed access token, the company said.
- Proton is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Proton Flock Camera Map”
- Our desk filed its story
Encrypted email and VPN company Proton on Sunday published a map that lets users search U.S. ZIP codes for Flock Safety automated license-plate readers1.
Proton said a Flock camera photographs each passing vehicle, logging the plate, time and location, and that a Vehicle Fingerprint feature also records make, model, color and details such as dents and bumper stickers1. Those records go into Flock's cloud, where police departments can search them and share them with other agencies, Proton said1. Flock says its network processes more than 20 billion vehicle reads a month across 49 states, according to the page1.
The company said device locations on the map come from independent research by cybersecurity researcher Joshua Michael and that Proton does not host or distribute the underlying dataset1. Proton said that in November 2025 Michael found Flock's servers publicly exposed an access token anyone could obtain without logging in, reported the issue to Flock, then published his findings and his own map in December1.
Michael's inventory lists more than 170,000 cameras and over 130,000 other Flock devices, Proton said, while Flock has publicly cited around 120,000 cameras1. Proton said the map is a snapshot from December 2025 and that devices installed or removed since then will not appear1. It contrasted the inventory with volunteer-reported maps such as DeFlock, saying this one comes from Flock's records1.
Proton said users can enter a ZIP code to zoom to their area or pan across neighborhoods in the United States1. Flock's response to Michael's disclosure and to Proton's map was not included on the page1.
