College Students are Pushing Colleges to 'De-Flock'
Inside Higher Ed reports: In September, Emory University removed a dozen license plate-reading cameras from its campus in Atlanta and declined to renew its contract with Flock Safety, the company that sells and operates the automatic license plate readers and other mass-surveillance technology. For the coalition of Emory students and employees who had spent months pushing the university to…
In September, Emory University removed a dozen license plate cameras from its Atlanta campus and decided not to renew its contract with Flock Safety, a company that provides and operates the surveillance technology. This decision marked a victory for students and employees who had lobbied for months to de-Flock the university. Senior sophomore biology student Tony Torres stated that regular security cameras were sufficient and that the license plate readers were unnecessary surveillance.
Campus protests, petitions, meetings, and teach-ins during the spring and summer brought attention to their concerns about the devices, including opaque data-sharing agreements that could expose undocumented students to risks, the potential for hacking, possible retaliation against student protesters, and the possibility of students feeling less safe and less inclined to attend classes, socialize with friends, or seek medical help when needed.
Similar actions have been taken by students at other universities, such as Indiana University Bloomington, the University of Florida, and the University of North Georgia. Cornell University recently announced it would also remove the cameras and end its contract with Flock Safety. Pennsylvania State University officials announced plans to terminate their contract as well.
An Emory spokesperson explained that retaining control over their safety infrastructure was the reason for eliminating Flock's cameras. However, Torin Monahan, a media/technology studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, shared his insights on the matter. Having conversed with campus police officers about their use of Flock's cameras, he learned that many police departments have augmented their surveillance capabilities in recent years with high-tech equipment that is far more advanced than what their day-to-day needs require.
Moreover, this equipment is also exceedingly expensive, suggesting that some institutions may be overinvesting in surveillance technology.
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