Wildlife Conservation Police Are Searching Flock Cameras for ICE
6 hours ago
- #immigration enforcement
- #privacy concerns
- #surveillance
- FWC police in Florida perform license plate lookups on Flock cameras for ICE, despite Flock claiming no direct data sharing with ICE.
- ICE accesses Flock's AI-powered cameras via state and local police, bypassing contracts, with FWC—a conservation agency—conducting searches for immigration purposes.
- Flock's network audits reveal FWC conducted 38 searches labeled 'immigration' in January, scanning over 5,000 networks, indicating widespread data sharing with ICE-linked agencies.
- Flock's recent reforms to opt-out of federal data sharing are undermined as agencies like FWC, via 287(g) program, collaborate closely with ICE for immigration enforcement.
- The expansion of 287(g) in Florida deputizes state officers as ICE extensions, leading to racial profiling and civil rights violations, per ACLU reports.
- Flock attempts to distance from ICE by emphasizing customer data ownership and compliance with state laws, but loopholes allow continued cooperation in states where it's legal.
- Network audits are becoming less transparent due to Flock's changes, with vague search reasons like 'investigation,' hindering public tracking of ICE collaborations.