You Went to Lowe’s for Paint. The Parking Lot Logged Your Plate.

When we talk about getting Flock out of Wilmington, most people picture the cameras on the poles by the road. But some of the most active cameras in town aren’t run by the government at all. They’re in the parking lot of the store where you buy your lightbulbs.

What the parking-lot cameras actually capture

Flock’s automated license plate readers sit at store entrances and lot exits and scan every car that passes — recording the plate, the make, model, and color, even distinguishing details like dents, bumper stickers, and roof racks. The footage default-deletes after 30 days, but while it’s live it can be searched and shared.

It doesn’t stay at the store

Records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation from a Texas sheriff’s office showed that a single sheriff could tap into Flock cameras at 173 different Lowe’s locations across the country, plus cameras and gunshot-detection microphones at dozens of Home Depots — data that police can typically search without a warrant. (404 Media) As EFF’s Dave Maass put it, most shoppers have no idea their data is being collected and shared — and if these companies want customers to feel safe at home, they should make sure they’re also safe “where they buy their supplies.” (404 Media)

Now there’s a lawsuit

In April 2026, five California residents filed a class action alleging Home Depot ran license plate readers at all 233 of its California stores without telling customers, feeding plate, make, model, time, and location data into a database reachable by law enforcement nationwide — including ICE and ATF — complete with real-time “hot list” alerts. The suit alleges violations of California’s ALPR privacy law: no named data custodian, no retention limit, no restriction on federal sharing, and no audit logs. (ClassAction.org) It isn’t only the home-improvement chains, either — Target and Walmart use ALPRs too. (Dayton Daily News)

Why this hits home in New Hanover County

Those cameras are already up at our local Lowe’s. And here’s the part that stings: Lowe’s is a North Carolina company, headquartered in Mooresville. A North Carolina company is scanning North Carolina shoppers and feeding their movements into a nationwide police-and-federal network — and you were never asked. There’s no warrant. And as we’ve documented, no one will even tell you who’s searching the broader network your data joins. (See our records analysis.)

This isn’t a left or right issue. Whether what bothers you is unaccountable government power or a corporation quietly harvesting and handing off your data, the result is the same: it’s your information, taken at a hardware store, without your consent.

In fairness, the stores say the cameras deter theft and help solve crimes — and they do catch some thieves. The honest question is whether stopping shoplifting justifies logging every law-abiding customer’s movements into a warrantless, nationwide police database.

You came for paint. You left a permanent record — and nobody asked you first.

What you can do

• Ask the manager at your Lowe’s or Home Depot whether the lot uses Flock, and where the data goes.
• Tell Lowe’s corporate — a North Carolina company — that you don’t consent to being tracked when you shop.
• Sign the petition and email your county commissioners about the broader camera network.
• Shop your values, and tell a neighbor what’s really in that parking lot.

Sources

• 404 Media — “Home Depot and Lowe’s Share Data From Hundreds of AI Cameras With Cops” (Aug 6, 2025)
• ClassAction.org — Home Depot ALPR class action (2026)
• Dayton Daily News — retailers (Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Walmart) use Flock
• Fox News — Home Depot, Lowe’s parking-lot plate scanning sparks privacy fears