Flock Safety Responds to Scandals with New Privacy Measures
Flock Safety, a company providing license plate reader technology to law enforcement agencies, has announced changes to its policies in response to growing concerns over the abuse of its technology by officers. The move comes after numerous scandals nationwide, including cases where officers used the technology to track people for personal reasons.
According to the company, all customers will now be required to adopt its Audit Assistance feature, which tracks abnormal activity within departments using its technology and flags it for review. Additionally, officers will be required to input case codes connected to an investigation when conducting a search, although this requirement can be bypassed in emergencies.
New Measures Aim to Address Concerns Over Data Collection and Sharing
The company has also introduced measures to limit the circumstances under which clients can share information from their cameras with other agencies. For example, clients can now choose to allow searches of their database in cases of missing person investigations but not in connection with immigration enforcement.
However, critics argue that these measures do not go far enough to address concerns over the vast amounts of data collected by the cameras and the potential for abuse. Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), described the announcement as largely a public relations stunt, praising only the proposed change to reduce the amount of time data is held from license plate searches from 30 to seven days.
Background and Controversy Surrounding Flock Safety
Flock Safety was founded just 10 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, and has since inked contracts with over 7,000 organizations across the country, building out a network of some 120,000 license plate readers. However, its surveillance web has stoked widespread opposition from people and civil liberties groups who fear it is eroding the right to privacy.
The outcry has led to the cancellation of contracts with the company in largely liberal cities like Los Angeles, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Eugene, Oregon. A Washington Post investigation earlier this month found that at least 50 law enforcement officers have been charged with misusing Flock's tools, highlighting the need for stricter controls and greater transparency.
ACLU Criticizes Flock Safety's New Measures
In a blog post, the ACLU's Marlow criticized Flock Safety's new measures, arguing that they are largely retreads of previous inadequate safety measures. He noted that the measure requiring officers to input case codes connected to an investigation is not new and has failed previously because users were easily able to circumvent the system's requirements.
Marlow praised the proposed change to reduce the amount of time data is held from license plate searches, but emphasized that more needs to be done to address the systemic issues surrounding the use of Flock Safety's technology. As the debate over surveillance and privacy continues, Flock Safety's efforts to overhaul its privacy policies will be closely watched by civil liberties groups and the public alike.
- Flock Safety has over 7,000 contracts with organizations across the US
- Its network includes over 120,000 license plate readers
- At least 50 law enforcement officers have been charged with misusing Flock's tools
Source: The Record