US Towns De-Flock License Plate Cameras as Trump Backs Flock and Poll Shows Public Split

The backlash has grown from Florida to Washington state. Flock, founded in 2017, sells its cameras to local governments, private businesses and citizens and has installed more than 120,000 cameras across the U.S. Early in its history, some cities offered grants for homeowners associations that wanted Flock cameras in their neighborhoods. Recent reports of misuse and concerns about mass surveillance have made Flock a shorthand for privacy invasion, The Verge reported.

Local leaders cite a mix of public pressure, Flock's data-sharing and retention policies, and uncertainty about what the company can do with the information its cameras collect. In Sheboygan, Wisconsin, lawmakers voted unanimously to end the city's Flock contract after learning that Flock reportedly tried to sell anonymized data collected in Sheboygan back to the city's public works department. Flock maintains that it does not sell consumer data. In Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Mayor Mike Wiza ended the contract and covered up the 10 cameras scattered throughout the city. 'We really have no way of auditing where the Flock data goes once it's collected,' Wiza said on a local radio show. 'Our community is not comfortable using these cameras without some assurances that it's being used in a manner we have authorized.'

In Bridgewater, Virginia, the town council put bags over its Flock cameras after voting to cancel its contract, according to The Verge. The Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism found that because of the town's information-sharing agreement with Flock, data collected in the town was searched 7 million times by law enforcement in 12 months. Bridgewater has fewer than 7,000 residents. The EFF, which sued San Jose, California, over its use of Flock cameras, argues that such information-sharing agreements violate the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Saira Hussain, a senior staff attorney at the EFF who has reviewed dozens of municipal Flock contracts, said, 'What we're talking about here is a mass surveillance technology that is by design intended to identify where people are going and track people's movements.'

Flock CEO Garrett Langley recently told The Verge the company has rolled out new guardrails, including a requirement to run case codes for all searches, which were previously optional. Flock is also mandating a feature called Audit Assistance, which flags 'abnormal' queries. 'This is such an obvious way to curb abuse,' Langley said. 'And I said, Fine. You know what? I think that's right, and we got this one wrong. We should make it a requirement.' Flock has also shortened its standard data retention period from 30 to seven days, though it will let individual jurisdictions lengthen these timeframes, according to The Verge.

The debate has also become national. TechRadar reported that President Donald Trump voiced support for Flock cameras when asked about them aboard Air Force One. 'I sort of like them because of that, because of law enforcement,' Trump said, adding that some people 'think it's an infringement.' When a reporter suggested the cameras 'help catch a lot of criminals,' Trump said, 'I like them.'

A new Reuters/Ipsos survey, conducted for Reuters, polled 1,167 adults across the U.S. and found that 47 percent were opposed to the use of Flock cameras in their communities, while 38 percent were in favor and 16 percent were unsure, TechRadar reported. Most Democrats and independents were against the cameras, as were almost all age groups, both male and female respondents, and both those with and without a college degree. Republicans and people aged 55 or above came out in favor. The Verge described the backlash as bipartisan; the survey shows differences by political persuasion.

The controversy has also led to police misconduct cases. After an investigation by USA Today, at least three police officers have been arrested and a fourth was fired after the outlet alleged widespread Flock misuse, including repeatedly searching for and tracking individual vehicles not involved in any criminal activity, TechRadar reported. USA Today said at least 22 police officers have been 'arrested, fired, put on leave or placed under investigation' after abusing their access to Flock technology. In Columbus, Ohio, an officer was fired for searching for a single license plate 272 times without adequate reason. Mayor Andrew Ginther said the city will pause its use of Flock cameras 'Until I can report out to the people of Columbus that this isn't a more widespread issue, that this really is just one person or a few people misusing and abusing this technology.'

Editor's Summary

Local governments are canceling Flock license plate camera contracts amid privacy and misuse concerns, but data retention and camera removal remain unresolved. President Trump has expressed support for the technology, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 47% of Americans oppose it and police misuse cases have led to arrests and a pause in Columbus, Ohio.