Flock Safety license-plate cameras are spreading across the United States, with police departments citing their value in locating stolen vehicles, finding missing people and solving crimes. But as the surveillance network grows, questions are mounting over how local camera data is accessed and whether federal agencies, including immigration authorities, can use it. The cameras are automated license-plate readers. Their law-enforcement appeal is straightforward: they can help police track vehicles connected to an investigation. The harder question for residents and local officials is what happens to the information after a plate is recorded—and what limits govern searches or sharing with other agencies. That debate gained a new focus after a hacker collective removed a Flock camera and copied its software. Investigative journalists Joseph Cox, of 404 Media, and colleagues at Wired examined the software, and Cox discussed their findings in an NPR interview published Oct. 14. The published discussion does not detail specific software findings, but it points to growing concern about the technology’s uses and the public’s ability to oversee them. Some residents have pushed back against the cameras, including by taking them down, while police departments continue to promote them as crime-fighting tools. That clash leaves local governments with a basic accountability test: explain where cameras are installed, who can search the records, which agencies can receive access and how long the data is kept. The technology can aid legitimate investigations, but broad access to records of people’s movements carries consequences beyond any one case. Communities considering the cameras should demand clear rules and public reporting—not assume that a tool bought to catch thieves will remain confined to that purpose.