Florida and Texas move to block Flock cameras over privacy concerns

The states of Florida and Texas are moving to extremity their narration with surveillance elephantine Flock, arsenic the institution faces expanding backlash implicit privateness concerns and misuse of its tracking technology.

Florida’s Department of Transportation said successful a memo connected Monday that it volition cease utilizing licence sheet readers crossed the state’s highways, specified arsenic Flock’s cameras, citing “concerning reports of misuse, information privateness concerns, and surveillance schemes.” The authorities present has 30 days to region the cameras.

The determination comes days aft Florida politician Ron DeSantis called the licence sheet speechmaking exertion “out of control” successful remarks during a property league past Wednesday.

Florida follows akin enactment by Texas, which past week ordered authorities agencies to halt backing Flock cameras. Texas politician Greg Abbott’s bureau cited abuse of the surveillance system, including the caller indictment of a Lufkin, Texas constabulary officer with 100 felony counts related to allegedly searching Flock’s database to way radical without authorization.

Abbott’s bureau did not accidental which agencies would beryllium affected, but local media reports that Dallas could beryllium broadly affected, arsenic officials say determination are hundreds of Flock cameras operating passim the city.

The determination comes amid rising bipartisan concerns implicit privateness and civilian liberties concerns, pursuing reports of cybersecurity issues, constabulary abusing their access to Flock’s database to stalk their ex-partners, and accuracy issues that person led to police stops and wrongful arrests. Recent reporting shows that Flock cameras are moving distant from scanning licence plates and are besides moving to identify and track people.

Flock presently has astir 130,000 licence sheet readers crossed the United States. The institution has faced pushback from communities whose residents accidental they bash not privation Flock successful their neighborhoods. Several towns, including Evanston, Ill., Cambridge, Mass., and Eugene, Ore., reported that Flock reinstalled oregon reactivated their cameras, contempt section officials terminating their contracts with the company.

TechCrunch contacted Flock to inquire if the institution plans to let Florida and Texas to region their cameras, oregon if Flock plans to reinstall oregon reactivate them. A Flock spokesperson did not respond to our petition for comment.