Pump the Brakes on Your Police Department's Use of Flock Safety
6 days ago
- #policing
- #privacy
- #surveillance
- Flock Safety is expanding a nationwide mass-surveillance system using automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras in over 2,000 cities across 42 states.
- Flock's system records and shares vehicle movement data with law enforcement, creating a centralized surveillance network of Orwellian scope.
- Residents can oppose Flock's ALPR systems by engaging with local officials, attending public meetings, writing op-eds, and using social media.
- Some communities have successfully blocked Flock's adoption, but where it can't be stopped, advocates can push for strict regulations on data retention, sharing, and usage.
- Key regulatory areas include limiting data retention periods, restricting data sharing to local use only, and ensuring watchlists are accurate and reliable.
- Flock's default contracts allow worldwide data sharing, raising risks of misuse by authoritarian regimes or enforcement of anti-abortion/anti-immigrant laws.
- The ACLU opposes mass surveillance but supports limited, fair ALPR use (e.g., stolen vehicles, AMBER Alerts) with proper checks and balances.
- Police departments often adopt Flock due to peer pressure, making them potential allies for compromise or alternative vendors.