Flock cameras are creepy. They might still be worth it.
To no small extent, Americans have grown accustomed to being watched. For more than a decade, CCTV cameras have recorded a hefty portion of many people’s public movements, while ubiquitous smartphones have made us all perpetually vulnerable to unsolicited documentation (if not, social media notoriety). Until recently, however, technical limitations constrained the reach of government […]
Flock Safety, a security firm, offers police departments networks of surveillance cameras, primarily automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that photograph each vehicle that passes them. The firm's main selling point is its ability to generate textual descriptions of all detected vehicles and store this information in a searchable database, making it feasible for police to monitor the travels of most any driver with a few keystrokes.
However, this technology has raised concerns about privacy and potential misuse, with critics accusing some officers of using ALPRs to stalk their exes or romantic interests, and even surveilling critics and protesters. Despite these concerns, Flock Safety and many police departments claim that the cameras are also effective in preventing car thefts and locating missing persons, leading to a growing debate about the balance between public safety and individual privacy.
Brief written by urgent.news from Vox's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
