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“What do you mean that Ulta Beauty is one of Flock camera’s biggest customers?” a weary-looking Cheyenne Hunt asked her followers in a video posted to Instagram and TikTok on Wednesday. People quickly jumped into the comments section, lamenting another business that seemed to have adopted automated license plate readers (ALPR) as a means of surveillance in its parking lots. “Oooh… new company to boycott!” one wrote.
Six months ago, a large corporation reportedly having security cameras in its store parking lots would have hardly made headlines. But Flock is not your father’s corner store CCTV system. As the name implies, ALPR cameras use AI to identify and track vehicles, primarily by reading license plates, although some brands (like Flock) say their cameras can also identify vehicle makes, models, and colors. (Flock is just one of several companies that sell ALPR technology, but it’s been pretty well established as the Kleenex of big surveillance.) Flock cameras do not use facial recognition technology.
While Flock says the individual private customer gets to decide what they do with the footage recorded by its cameras, there is an option to share that footage with local law enforcement. As the New York Times recently reported, backlash against Flock is largely related to concerns about mass surveillance and the potential for authorities (including ICE) to use data from ALPRs to track citizens without a warrant.
Although Flock Safety noted that the company had partnered with Ulta Beauty back in July 2025, the general public seems to have been made aware after a petition by Ultra Violet, a gender justice nonprofit that “works to create a more inclusive world for women and gender expansive people,” says Jenna Sherman, Ultra Violet’s campaign director whose work focuses on the intersection of tech and gender. The petition demands “that Ulta sever all ties with Flock and immediately shut off Flock cameras in Ulta parking lots.”
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Allure that Ulta Beauty does use Flock’s cameras in a limited number of locations as a measure against theft. Currently, there are ALPRs at less than 1% of Ulta Beauty’s over 1,500 stores, all in landlord-owned parking lots which require permission for the cameras to be installed. The source says that Ulta Beauty “complies with all applicable laws and strictly controls access to information collected by cameras.” On multiple occasions, law enforcement officers have used Flock footage to identify and ultimately arrest people accused of stealing from Ulta Beauty stores. Allure was not able to independently confirm Ultra Violet’s claim that Ulta is one of Flock’s “biggest” customers, though it is a retail partner that Flock has mentioned in case studies.
For Sherman, the fact that a company that largely caters to women would use ALPR technology was particularly concerning. She points to reports that Flock has been used to track people seeking abortions, protestors, and immigrants, as well as allegations that members of law enforcement have used Flock footage to stalk or harass women. (Flock Safety largely refutes these claims and has removed some states from its National Lookup database.) “[The use of ALPR] really plays into this model of manufactured consent that women and gender expansive people and LGBTQ people already have to face in so many areas of our life,” Sherman says. “We have our consent taken away from us constantly, not just sexually, but in day to day interactions … We’re being told that we have to be okay with driving into a parking lot and having our license plate scanned whether we know it or not.”
The fact that it’s such a small percentage of stores using Flock says to Sherman that the petition is coming at the right time. “It’s all the more important that we’re speaking out now while the percentage is only 1% to make it crystal clear that women are not okay with this, that we will not accept it, that we will stand up in droves, particularly to companies that claim to be for us and built for us as customers,” she says.
This news comes at a time when parts of the public have become increasingly wary of the normalization of AI-powered anything. Beauty pros have reported a rise in clients bringing in AI-generated inspiration images, which means they have to allocate appointment time to setting more realistic expectations. Kylie Jenner’s MetaGlasses went over like a lead balloon in some privacy-minded circles. When companies opt for ALPR technology as a theft deterrent, the move comes with a risk of losing customers who’d rather get their mascara without a side of vehicle tracking.
“This isn’t a fight just about Ulta or just about Flock,” Sherman says. “The goal is not just to get Ulta to cut ties with Flock, but to actually dismantle this exponentially growing mass surveillance system on all levels.”
