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Flock cameras are everywhere. Here's how they track cars.
Business Insider • • nation
Key Points:
- Flock Safety manufactures automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras installed widely across the U.S., capturing vehicle details to assist law enforcement and private organizations in tracking vehicles linked to crimes.
- While touted for aiding police in locating suspects and stolen vehicles, Flock cameras have faced criticism over privacy concerns, data misuse, inaccuracies leading to wrongful stops, and potential surveillance of ordinary citizens.
- Civil liberties groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU argue that Flock’s extensive camera networks enable mass surveillance by compiling detailed movement patterns, raising constitutional and ethical issues.
- Flock maintains that their cameras do not use facial recognition, focus solely on vehicles involved in incidents, and delete vehicle records after 30 days by default, with data sharing controlled by customers.
- The company operates on a subscription model, has deployed approximately 120,000 cameras nationwide, and is valued at $8.4 billion; however, many communities have paused or canceled contracts due to privacy and misuse concerns.
