Flock haters cross political divides to remove error-prone cameras

Flock Safety—the surveillance company behind the country’s largest network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs)—currently faces attacks on multiple fronts seeking to tear down the invasive and error-prone cameras across the US. This week, two lawmakers, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), called for a federal investigation, alleging that Flock has been “negligently handling Americans’ personal data” by failing to use cybersecurity best practices. The month prior, Wyden wrote a letter to Flock CEO Garrett Langley, alleging that Flock’s security failures mean that “abuse of Flock cameras is inevitable” and that they threaten to expose billions of people’s harvested data should a catastrophic breach occur. “In my view, local elected officials can best protect their constituents from the inevitable abuses of Flock cameras by removing Flock from their communities,” Wyden wrote. Several communities have already come to this conclusion, although their concerns go beyond fears of hackers or potential data breaches. They’re also concerned that law enforcement will use the sweeping database for invasive tracking. For instance, Texas scanned more than 80,000 ALPRs to allegedly do a wellness check on a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion, 404 Media reported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also worked with local police to conduct “immigration”-related searches of Flock data, 404 Media reported. (Langley wrote in a blog that providing ICE access is a local decision, “not Flock’s decision.”) Reaching across the political spectrum, people in seven states have won fights to remove Flock’s invasive cameras in their towns and cities, sharing templates for success that are inspiring even more opposition campaigns. These critics oppose Flock not only because cameras threaten to violate the privacy of anyone who drives past them but also because the cameras are error-prone and can lead to wrongful detentions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reported.