Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based technology company operating approximately 120,000 licence-plate reading cameras across the United States, has announced new privacy measures in response to documented misuse by law enforcement personnel. The company’s automated systems capture vehicle images and licence plate data for storage in a searchable database, marketed primarily as crime-fighting tools for police departments and community organizations.
The company faced mounting pressure following a Washington Post investigation revealing that at least 46 police officers had misused the technology for unauthorized tracking, including stalking former partners and spouses. In response, Flock has implemented several safeguards, including reducing the default data retention period from 30 days to 7 days and establishing an “evidence mode” for cases requiring longer storage windows. The company will also require case codes for all searches by year-end 2026 and has made audit logging mandatory to document all database access and identify suspicious activity.
Additionally, Flock introduced offence-based filters allowing individual law enforcement agencies to restrict which data other agencies can access. The system will automatically lock out users displaying abnormal behavior pending review. However, civil liberties organizations remain skeptical about the adequacy of these changes. The American Civil Liberties Union acknowledged the data retention reduction as potentially beneficial but characterized most other modifications as insufficient responses to fundamental privacy concerns.
Originally reported by Aljazeera →
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