Flock Cameras Are Tracking More Than License Plates: Here's Where All That Data Goes
Deployed across more than 12,000 communities, Flock Safety's automated license plate readers (ALPR) are a key player in America's ever-growing public security and surveillance network. The AI-enabled camera provider has rapidly expanded its products, functionalities, and customer base, creating a vast network of video cameras, audio detection devices, drones, and mobile security trailers. This expanded offering is powered by AI algorithms that process far more than drivers' license plates, recording vehicle profiles, pedestrians, and "critical sounds" such as gunfire. Given the breadth of this intelligence, it's no surprise that Flock Safety has pivoted toward a big data model, offering interconnected, searchable systems. But aside from its undeniable safety benefits, some critics increasingly see it as a national, AI-driven mass surveillance network.
The controversy crescendoed following a Super Bowl ad with smart doorbell company Ring, in which the two companies touted its technologies as a vast neighborhood watch network for tracking down lost dogs. The partnership, which Ring promptly canceled, spoke to wider concerns regarding ALPR's growing prevalence, as citizens tore Flock cameras from their posts. Worries deepened after reports that federal authorities used Flock cameras to execute the Trump administration's deportation program, causing several cities to revoke their contracts with the company.
Flock has been more candid about the data its cameras collect than its competitors, instituting privacy guardrails and audit policies to increase accountability. Despite this transparency, however, nationwide law enforcement has abused their partnerships with the Atlanta company – a trend which many worry will only worsen as ALPRs become more ubiquitous. To date, Flock markets to both public and private partners, including law enforcement agencies, schools, private businesses, prisons, residential communities, parks, and places of worship. All told, Flock Safety controls a vast, ever-expanding surveillance empire that extends far beyond ALPRs and is quickly ingratiating itself within the country's public security ecosystem.
Since its founding in 2017, Flock has steadily expanded beyond basic license plate reader technologies. Its ALPR cameras, for instance, use AI to create "vehicle signatures," cataloguing the make, body type, color, damage, and other distinguishing features of cars, buses, trucks, and even bicycles. Using "vehicle fingerprint technology," the firm's profiles are incredibly granular, including information such as if a car sports aftermarket wheels and whether it has a roof rack.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/flock-cameras-tracking-more-license-234700119.html
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