FAQ

FAQ

Is this legal to use? FlipDeFlock is passive by architecture — it listens, and never transmits, injects, jams, deauthenticates, or replays. That said, passive doesn't mean unconditionally legal everywhere: use it only where you are authorized to. Recording and surveillance law varies by jurisdiction, and that's on you to know before pointing this at anything.

Does it connect to the internet or phone home? No. The device never connects to a network — no telemetry, no update checks, no accounts, no server. That's a design commitment, not a missing feature. Share to DeFlock renders a QR code locally; the Flipper and ESP never touch a network, and your own phone decides whether to open it.

Does "Save hits" track me? It's off by default. With it off, no detection history persists past closing the app. Turned on, it keeps a hits.csv on your own SD card — nothing leaves the device either way, and turning the setting back off deletes the file. The reasoning: a hit log is a durable record of where you've been, and a tool built for people evading surveillance shouldn't create that trail unless you explicitly ask for it.

How reliable are detections? Every detection carries an explicit confidence tag — Possible, Likely, Confirmed, or Class? — because a counter-surveillance tool that overstates certainty is worse than one that admits doubt. See the confidence ladder on Features & Board Modes. Stated plainly: most of the detection logic since v0.20 has been verified against the compiler and a growing host test suite, not against real deployed surveillance hardware in the field. Treat detections as indicators, verify by eye, and don't read field-proven reliability into a given release.

Is this affiliated with Flock Safety or DeFlock? No, on both counts. Flock Safety is the ALPR camera vendor this tool detects — not a partner, sponsor, or source. DeFlock is a separate, independent open-data community project that maps ALPR cameras; FlipDeFlock can export a report in DeFlock's format and hand off to DeFlock's own submission flow, but the two projects are run separately.

Can I use the FlipDeFlock name or logo for my own fork or store listing? No, not in a way that implies it's official. The code is free to reuse under the GPL, but the "FlipDeFlock" name and logo are the project's identity and aren't part of the licensed code. Rename your derivative — a "based on FlipDeFlock" credit is welcome. See Legal & Disclaimers for the full notice.

Where do I report a bug or a bad detection? Open a normal GitHub issue — a missed detection or false positive is a correctness bug, not a security vulnerability. Check Troubleshooting first. For an actual security vulnerability (memory safety, a way for untrusted radio or SD-card input to compromise the device), use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting instead of a public issue — see SECURITY.md.