Police use Flock to search license plates. Now there's a viral website to see if yours was one of them.
A former software engineer has launched a website called 'Have I Been Flocked?' to allow users to check if their license plates have been searched in Flock Safety's surveillance database. The site has gained significant popularity as public debate intensifies regarding the privacy implications of widespread police surveillance technology.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing tension between public safety technology and individual privacy rights in the digital age.
Cris van Pelt, the founder of Have I Been Flocked?, said drivers have more to worry about than Flock cameras. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images A website called "Have I Been Flocked?" is trying to add transparency to license plate readers. The website's founder spoke to BI about its popularity and mission. "Ending Flock is not the end game," he said The national debate over Flock Safety's license-plate reader technology has turned a website built by a former software engineer into a sensation. Hundreds of thousands of people a day are visiting "Have I Been Flocked?" — the database created in October 2025 by Cris van Pelt as he grew disillusioned with the tech industry. "It's exploded over the past week," van Pelt told Business Insider last week, providing screenshots of traffic data that showed the site peaked at 60,000 unique visitors every two hours.
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