Their cities dropped Flock surveillance cameras. They’re still being watched
Despite policy victories over Flock, Americans are finding themselves under similar monitoring by a new company – or unable to remove the original cameras
TL;DR
- Cities are canceling contracts with Flock Safety, a company with over 120,000 ALPR cameras across the US, due to privacy concerns.
- Privacy advocates argue that ALPRs create a dragnet, capturing data on individuals not suspected of crimes without warrants.
- Axon is replacing Flock in several municipalities, capitalizing on Flock's public relations issues, though critics fear this is a mere change of vendor without addressing systemic surveillance.
- Some cities are experiencing delays in Flock's removal of cameras, leading to makeshift solutions like covering them with trash bags.
- Advocates stress the need to address data governance and surveillance systems broadly, rather than focusing solely on individual vendors.