A retention promise
is only the first question.

What the provider says

In an August 2026 announcement, Flock described a move from a 30-day default to a seven-day recommendation and default. It also said existing customers would keep their current retention periods, and described an Evidence Mode for preserving selected records in active investigations.

Its Evidence Policy states a seven-day standard unless an individual customer agreement specifies otherwise. These are provider statements, not our verification of a particular agency’s settings.

What to establish locally

Our interpretation: a headline about a default cannot establish the policy for a specific deployment. Start with the current customer agreement, local policy and a dated answer from the responsible operator.

1. The active rule: Which contract or policy sets the retention period, and when did it take effect?
2. The exceptions: What can be preserved, exported or held elsewhere, and under what process?
3. The access: Who can search or receive records while they exist?
4. The review: Who checks compliance, and what findings are available to the public?

Where the disagreement sits

The ACLU’s June 2026 community guide argues for opposing or limiting ALPR surveillance and emphasizes retention, sharing and use. It is an advocacy source. Flock’s materials present the provider’s case for its safeguards. Reading both helps identify the questions; neither replaces the applicable local record.

No local deployment was investigated for this note. Source statements can change. This is educational analysis, not a finding of misconduct or a legal opinion. Editorial standards · Suggest a correction