Flock Safety new privacy reforms cut data retention in privacy protection
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss new privacy safeguards for the company’s license plate readers. Langley responds to backlash from his license plate tracking camera.
Flock Safety, the embattled AI-powered security camera operator, announced an overhaul to its privacy and security measures Thursday amid growing backlash from consumers and reports of law enforcement abuse.
As public backlash to the company’s growing network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) continues to build, the company announced a new set of reforms that includes enhanced privacy protections, strengthening of control for local law enforcement offices and enhanced accountability measures.
To start, Flock is reducing its standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. Previously, all data captured by one of the company’s more than 119,000 cameras nationwide was deleted after the 30-day window. Now, the company announced on Thursday that data will only live on Flock servers for one week.
While law enforcement agencies often respond to privacy-concerned critics by explaining that the Flock system helps them catch criminals, Flock said that 90% of all searches using its product happen within a week anyway, seemingly keeping the privacy reform consistent with law enforcement priorities.
One step Flock is taking is reducing its standard data retention window from 30 days to seven. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
However, for law enforcement agencies that need more time to investigate, Flock announced the launch of “Evidence Mode,” a feature that will allow agencies to preserve data for longer based on state or local policy.
Another privacy protection the company announced will be the ability for agencies to decide which types of criminal offenses they want to share data about with other municipalities.
“For example, City A could allow City B to search its cameras for a stolen vehicle or violent crime while blocking searches related to immigration enforcement,” the company said.
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Flock has come under fire from privacy advocates and concerned citizens, who expressed worry that Flock will be storing data on servers for the long term.
Some, such as Knox County, Tennessee, Mayor Glen Jacobs have called for a national moratorium on the deployment of Flock’s cameras.
Civil liberties advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have also offered significant criticisms.
The ACLU said in a Thursday statement that Flock’s reforms “seem to be a thinly veiled PR attempt to counter communities’ genuine privacy concerns with its mass surveillance system with largely hollow security promises, rather than an earnest effort to address them.”
The backlash has been partially fueled by reports of police abusing the technology to stalk romantic…
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