Flock Safety Responds to Security and Accountability Concerns

Flock Safety is changing how its nationwide license plate surveillance network handles Americans' data following growing criticism over privacy, security and law enforcement accountability. The company says it will cut its recommended license plate data retention period from 30 days to seven days. Flock is also introducing new controls over data sharing between law enforcement agencies, stronger audit requirements and automatic lockouts when users exhibit potentially abnormal activity. The changes raise important questions for taxpayers: How much are communities spending on surveillance technology? Who controls the data collected by these systems? And what safeguards should be required when government agencies use taxpayer-funded technology? Flock says the changes are designed to strengthen privacy, security and accountability while maintaining the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate stolen vehicles, missing persons and violent crime. The debate over police surveillance is likely to continue as communities weigh public safety against privacy, government accountability and the cost of increasingly sophisticated law enforcement technology. Subscribe to The States powered by The Center Square for reporting on government spending, taxes, regulation, economics and the policies affecting American taxpayers.