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Backlash hits Flock cameras
A nationwide wave of protesters and vandals targeting surveillance cameras made by Flock Safety has not stopped the technology’s spread, even as more than 50 cities and counties canceled or deactivated automated license plate-recognition cameras of the type manufactured by Flock Safety and other firms.
“citing a “recent exponential increase” in deployments of law enforcement cameras”
In Florida, the state transportation office revoked the ability of local law enforcement to put license plate readers on state highways, and Will Watts, the chief operating officer of the Florida Department of Transportation, cited a “recent exponential increase” in deployments of law enforcement cameras along with “concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes.”
The controversy has been fueled by alleged police abuse, including a Kentucky officer arrested after authorities said he used Flock cameras to track his ex-girlfriend more than 2,000 times, and by broader worries about artificial intelligence and mass surveillance.
Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told ABC News, “This is the biggest, most grassroots privacy backlash that I’ve ever seen in more than 20 years working on these issues,” while Kenneth Gray, a lecturer in the Criminal Justice Department at the University of New Haven, said, “They can be useful.”
Local rules and limits
In Milwaukee, Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office said the Milwaukee Police Department agreed to major new changes after criminal charges of two former officers accused of misusing the technology for personal reasons, including limiting Flock Safety camera database searches to supervisors only.
The new policy also restricts use of the database to investigations of serious crimes only, and MPD will no longer share data from Milwaukee’s Flock cameras with other law enforcement agencies, even though the department has 31 cameras throughout the city.
Milwaukee residents offered mixed reactions, with MSOE student Ryan LeMay saying, “I’m glad they are regulating them because having those tools out there, people are going to misuse them eventually,” while Zoe Jenkins said, “It is better having less people being able to look at the details from flock cameras. It’s still, I honestly flock cameras in general make me uncomfortable.”
In New Hampshire, Union Leader reported that Portsmouth city councilor Andrew Bagley wants an ordinance requiring council approval before fixed license-plate readers go up on city streets, and Bagley said, “The idea that we would have stationary cameras recording everybody all the time and implementing a tool like AI to build profiles that to me is the type of thing we make sure we don’t do.”
What states say is at stake
Florida’s move to block license plate readers on state highways is part of a broader pushback against Flock Safety and similar systems, with the state transportation office revoking all previously issued approvals for license plate readers in state “rights-of-way” and giving agencies 30 days to remove the equipment.
““exponential growth” of these devices on Florida roads, coupled with concerning reports about misuse”
The Florida Department of Transportation memo attributed the decision to “exponential growth” of these devices on Florida roads, coupled with “concerning reports about misuse, data privacy, and potential surveillance systems,” and it warned it may immediately remove any device that poses a danger to road safety or creates an unsafe condition.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a halt to using state funds to acquire Flock Safety cameras, and his office said the resources “cannot be used for Flock cameras,” linking the decision to alleged misuse of collected information.
Flock Safety responded by arguing its tools help solve crimes and locate missing people, and in Florida it said the technology is “an important public safety tool for law enforcement agencies across Florida, helping officers solve serious crimes, find missing people, recover stolen vehicles, and support safer communities,” while DeSantis said, “I think these license plate reader cameras are out of control.”