Hasty Briefsbeta

  • #crime
  • #privacy
  • #surveillance
  • Flock Safety's license plate-reading cameras helped locate the suspect in the Brown University shooting.
  • The system operates without essential checks and balances, raising privacy concerns.
  • Flock Safety works with nearly 100 police departments in Massachusetts and 250 in New England.
  • Cameras identify vehicles by make, color, or decals, even without license plates.
  • The technology does not capture pedestrians or sidewalks and requires cellular service.
  • One camera can record 30,000 vehicles per day using solar and wireless infrastructure.
  • The suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, killed two students and an MIT professor before taking his own life.
  • Flock's database was crucial in tracking the suspect's rental car.
  • Concerns include indiscriminate data collection and sharing with agencies like ICE.
  • ACLU advocates for regulations on data retention and usage to protect civil rights.
  • Flock argues that longer data retention periods are necessary for effective investigations.