Wait. What are these cameras on UW-Madison Campus? 📸
- There's one in front of Memorial Union!
- (You can find more on Deflock's interactive map)
- UW-Madison Police Department released no
information for months after these cameras went up in fall 2025.
- The Daily Cardinal published a story January 29, 2026, in which UWPD claimed they would release an informational page within a week.
- The City of Madison has an ordinance preventing this type of surveillance by city agencies, but UWPD gets to ignore it because they are their own jurisdiction.
- These cameras put our community in danger:
- There is no transparency, or oversight from the community.
- We didn't even know when the contract was signed or who approved it or what the terms are until internet sleuths filed open records requests
- There's nothing in their licence plate reader policy - they say license plate reader cameras can't be used for immigration reasons, but there's no enforcement mechanism
- ICE and other federal entities have gotten access to Flock cameras elsewhere despite the contract holders banning them
- Flock is a private company, making them an accountability sink where the powers that be can just say "not our problem"
- Many more issues are listed in our detailed research doc! (Nerds only!)
If you're ready to do something about this: