by Leo Hohmann, Leo’s Newsletter:
Lowe’s, Home Depot and others are called on to cancel their contracts with the Atlanta-based AI surveillance company.
Social media activists are taking on major American big-box retailers in hopes of getting them to terminate their contracts with the Atlanta-based AI surveillance company Flock Group Inc., doing business as “Flock Safety.”
Flock makes AI-powered spy cameras, drones and automated license-plate readers.
A letter sent by 56 online activists, public figures, and content creators with a combined follower count of over 46 million demands that Lowe’s and Home Depot end their contracts with Flock, according to a report by Cybernews.
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Those who signed the letter say they create “DIY and home improvement content for a living” and often visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy products.
Among the signatories are TikTok comedian Spencer Earl and former NASA engineer Susan Martinez, according to Cybernews, which added:
Their followers also seem to support the cause, with some already claiming to have dropped the hardware stores for the same reason.
The group argues that they can’t “in good conscience” encourage their followers to use Lowe’s and Home Depot “until you drop ties with harmful surveillance vendors.”
The main argument is that Home Depot and Lowe’s, which serve thousands of people every day across the country, are providing Flock with a huge amount of data that could later be exploited by malicious government agencies.
In the letter addressed to the CEOs of Lowe’s and Home Depot, these activists say Flock’s network has been used to aid ICE agents in raiding, stalking, and detaining people, which would include American citizens mistaken for illegals.
“As some of the largest commercial customers of Flock Safety, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot cannot continue to put customers in danger with this contract,” according to the letter, available at DeFlockLowes.com.
The letter also highlighted the irony of the situation by saying that stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot “profit daily off immigrant day laborers” but are happy to share their data with “hostile organizations that want to cause them harm.”
Flock has had cameras in the parking lots of Lowe’s and Home Depot since at least August 2025 and the two companies share data with cops from hundreds of cameras, according to a report from 404 Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The records are the latest to shed light on how expansive Flock’s surveillance network has become, and highlights that it includes cameras that are operated by both police and private businesses.
“What we’re learning is that two of the country’s most popular home-improvement stores are contributing to the massive surveillance dragnet coordinated by Flock Safety,” Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media.
