Canadian software engineer and YouTuber Anthony Sistilli of Brampton, Ontario, built his own automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera designed to track police vehicles. He posted videos on TikTok explaining the camera’s construction and function, describing it as “a personal Flock surveillance camera to Flock the Flockers.”
According to a YouTube video Sistilli posted this week, two officers from Peel Regional Police visited his home to inquire about his “intentions” for the data he collected. The timing follows Brampton’s recent $2 million Canadian investment in high-resolution cameras with automated license plate recognition technology.
In his video, Sistilli highlighted the officers’ concerns about the risks such surveillance posed to them personally. One officer, according to Sistilli, specifically mentioned how unsettling it would be for police if people could determine where they lived, when they started shifts, and their daily movements—information he noted “could put them personally at risk.”
Sistilli used the police visit as a foundation for a longer YouTube discussion examining ALPR technology more broadly. According to the source, his analysis covers how companies like Flock market their products aggressively to municipalities, questions about whether the technology actually reduces crime, and concerns regarding transparency in data collection and retention.
The contrast Sistilli highlighted—police using ALPR cameras extensively to track ordinary citizens while opposing citizens using the same technology on them—underscores broader concerns about ALPR deployment. According to the source text, documented misuses of ALPR data include stalking ex-partners, harassing immigrants, and harming innocent individuals. ALPR adoption has expanded significantly in recent years, with Flock leading both widespread deployment and associated controversies.
Peel Regional Police has not responded to requests for comment about the visit.
Key facts
- Anthony Sistilli, a Canadian software engineer, built an ALPR camera to track police vehicles in Brampton, Ontario
- Two Peel Regional Police officers visited Sistilli’s home to question his intentions for the collected data
- Brampton recently invested $2 million Canadian in high-resolution cameras with automated license plate recognition
- Sistilli’s video highlights police concerns about surveillance risks while noting the irony of police using similar technology on citizens
- ALPR data misuse has included stalking, harassment of immigrants, and harm to innocent people, according to documented cases