Florida and Texas move to block Flock cameras over privacy concerns
Florida and Texas move to end use of Flock license plate cameras, citing privacy concerns and database misuse by police.
Florida's Department of Transportation said it will cease using license plate readers, such as Flock's cameras, on state highways and has 30 days to remove them, following Governor DeSantis calling the technology 'out of control'. Texas separately ordered state agencies to stop funding Flock cameras, citing abuse including the indictment of a Lufkin officer on 100 felony counts for allegedly searching Flock's database without authorization. Flock operates roughly 130,000 license plate readers across the US, and towns including Evanston, Cambridge, and Eugene report the company reinstalled cameras after contracts were terminated.
- Florida agencies must remove cameras within 30 days; Dallas reportedly has hundreds of Flock cameras.
- A Lufkin, Texas officer was indicted on 100 felony counts over unauthorized Flock database searches.
- Backlash follows reports of cybersecurity issues, stalking via database access, and wrongful arrests from accuracy problems.
- Flock did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
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From the original article
2 min read at techcrunch.com
Flock's searchable network of 130,000 license plate cameras around the U. S. have sparked bipartisan privacy and civil liberties concerns.
By Zack Whittaker · techcrunch.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.