Flock Safety says it doesn't work with ICE. That's technically true. But public records obtained by journalist David Covucci and shared with 404 Media show that Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission police ran 38 immigration-related searches on Flock's camera network in January alone, each one touching more than 5,000 separate camera networks across the country. Flock's blog post titled "Does Flock Share Data With ICE?" gives a straightforward answer: "No." The reality is more complicated. Flock built a national lookup tool that lets any participating agency search license plate data from cameras installed anywhere in the US. When Florida wildlife officers got deputized as immigration enforcers, they gained access to the entire grid.

Governor Ron DeSantis enrolled nearly 800 FWC officers in the DHS 287(g) program last August, turning wildlife cops into an extension of ICE. These are officers whose actual job is protecting endangered species and investigating maritime issues. Now they're running surveillance queries for federal immigration enforcement. The searches included reasons like "Immigration (civil/administrative) - I.C.E." and "Immigration (criminal) - I.C.E." according to a Flock network audit from Ball State University. No warrants required.

Jay Stanley, a senior analyst with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, put it plainly: "This highlights when you do mass surveillance, you really can't control the data." He's right. Cities that installed Flock cameras to track local crime probably never imagined Florida wildlife police would use them to hunt undocumented immigrants. The 287(g) expansion has made debates about federal access to Flock data almost obsolete, because local police around the country are now doing ICE's work directly. NHS staff are reportedly refusing to use the Federated Data Platform due to ethical concerns about its provider, Palantir. Despite resistance, 123 of 205 hospital trusts in England are currently using the FDP. The government faces pressure from MPs and medical unions to trigger a contract break clause. The surveillance net is wide, and it's being pulled by agencies most people have never heard of.