The National Park Service Is Using Flock. Rangers Are Pissed

The National Park Service (NPS), the agency responsible for managing U.S. national parks and monuments, has acquired Flock cameras for installation in several parks. This move has sparked outrage among current and former NPS rangers. According to a ranger who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Flock cameras "protect property, not people or parks" and constitute a "disrespectful invasion of privacy."

Another ranger expressed concern that every American should have the freedom to visit national parks without their location being tracked by the federal government, emphasizing that wild places are central to American freedom and no one should fear visiting them. A former ranger added that if the public were aware of the surveillance, they would likely push back.

Flock cameras are equipped to scan license plates, identifying vehicle make, model, and color, and record the timestamped location of each vehicle passing. This data is accessible to law enforcement customers of Flock, often without a warrant, raising concerns about privacy and potential misuse. Many Flock cameras are part of a national network, allowing police from different jurisdictions to query cameras across the country.

For instance, a police officer in Texas could use the network to look for a specific vehicle and search cameras nationwide. This development has fueled a nationwide debate about the deployment of Flock cameras and whether communities want the company's surveillance technology in their neighborhoods. Yosemite National Park is one of the parks where Flock cameras have been installed, according to WBTW News 13, which cited data from DeFlock, an open-source map of Flock and other automatic license plate reader (ALPR) locations.

Additionally, a Verkada camera, known for its controversial practices and potential facial recognition capabilities, is planned to be installed in a road leading to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, as per a letter from Michael Donato, the acting deputy superintendent of National Capital Parks - East, to the Washington Support Office Visitor and Resource Protection Program.

The NPS maintains that the cameras at Yosemite National Park are used for traffic monitoring, measuring vehicle counts, travel times, and entrance-station wait times to enhance visitor experience. However, one ranger expressed fear that the combination of such surveillance with potential malfeasance, like backdating rule changes to falsely accuse park visitors, could undermine the very essence of freedom in the country. They also warned that a misread license plate could disrupt a visitor's National Park experience.