Texas Suburb Seeks $2.3 Million for Flock Records, Citing 14-Year Search
Report says North Richland Hills, Texas, quoted a $2.3 million fee for public records on Flock's AI camera system.
The city reached that figure by saying that searching "about a terabyte worth of communications about errors, misuse, and effectiveness of the Flock system" would take approximately 14 years of labor at $15 per hour, the Tribune reported. The records concern how police departments are using and potentially abusing the camera system.
Phil Mynona, who filed the request using a pseudonym on behalf of his group, the Texas Privacy Coalition, told the Tribune that the fee seemed "ludicrous" and designed to stifle his public records searches. Mynona has sought similar records from more than 200 law enforcement agencies across the United States, and he said it was impossible to predict how cities assessed fees for Flock records.
Some cities provided more than 400,000 pages of documents for free, while others charged $5,000, according to the Tribune. Other groups, including a Houston news station called KPRC, have seen officials quote up to $121,000 for Flock records, the Tribune reported.
The Tribune and Ars Technica placed the North Richland Hills demand in the context of growing bipartisan backlash against Flock. Ars Technica said the high price tags may be hiding data that anti-surveillance groups say have triggered audits, arrests, and changes in how law enforcement uses cameras, including decisions to get rid of cameras.
The Slashdot item also pointed readers to related coverage that blamed Flock for a wrongful 13-day imprisonment and a police stalking incident in Florida.