Flock announces changes amid backlash over its license plate reader network
- Flock Safety announced changes to its license plate reader system to address privacy concerns and documented abuses by law enforcement.
- The company operates a nationwide network of cameras that record license plate numbers and vehicle characteristics.
- Flock will require law enforcement users to implement mandatory audit tools and shorten data retention from 30 days to 7 days.
- Customers will have control over which offenses outside agencies can search their data for, potentially blocking immigration enforcement searches.
- Critics remain skeptical, stating that the changes may not adequately prevent misuse of the technology.
Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company, announced on Thursday that it is making changes to its platform in response to privacy concerns and documented abuses by some law enforcement members. The company operates a nationwide network of automated cameras that capture license plate numbers and vehicle characteristics daily.
To address these concerns, Flock's CEO stated that many product changes will become mandatory for law enforcement users by January 1. This includes implementing an audit tool to flag abnormal search behavior and shortening the standard data retention period from 30 days to 7 days.
Additionally, law enforcement users will now need to enter a code linking each search to a specific case, and overrides for emergencies will be flagged for review. Critics, however, have expressed skepticism about whether these changes will sufficiently prevent misuse of the technology, with some calling the updates inadequate.
Flock在其车牌识别网络遭遇反对声中宣布变更
Flock Safety是一家监控技术公司，周四宣布将对其平台进行变更，以应对隐私问题和一些执法人员的滥用行为。该公司运营着一个全国范围的自动摄像头网络，每天捕捉车牌号码和车辆特征。
为了应对这些问题，Flock的首席执行官表示，许多产品变更将于1月1日起对执法用户强制实施。这包括实施审计工具以标记异常搜索行为，并将标准数据保留期从30天缩短至7天。
此外，执法用户现在需要输入一个代码，将每次搜索与特定案件关联，紧急情况的覆盖将被标记以供审查。然而，批评者对这些变更是否能充分防止技术滥用表示怀疑，有人称这些更新不够充分。