Flock Cameras Become Campaign Target   09/04 06:33

   

   RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Wisconsin's candidates for governor want to limit 
them, while Pennsylvania's say they support a ban. A Michigan congressional 
candidate called them "un-American." A Florida Senate candidate is selling 
merch opposing them.

   Across the country and up and down ballots, candidates from both parties are 
increasingly on the attack over Flock cameras, the AI-powered nationwide 
network of automated cameras that record license plates and other 
characteristics of all passing vehicles, allowing law enforcement agencies to 
search and share that data. Although police say the cameras are an invaluable 
crime-fighting tool, some critics say their pervasiveness amounts to 
unconstitutional warrantless mass surveillance.

   The cameras sold by Atlanta-based Flock Safety, which the company has said 
are running in 6,000 communities in every state but Alaska, have become a new 
campaign issue that candidates and strategists see as part of a backlash 
against powerful technology companies, connected to broader debates over the 
future of artificial intelligence and the associated boom in data center 
construction.

   "We've seen candidates running on banning them, cutting off funding, or 
requiring warrants. That's a credit to activists across the country who have 
raised concerns about their use," Michael Soyfer, an attorney for the Institute 
for Justice, a public interest law firm litigating over the technology, said in 
a statement.

   In response to questions about the cameras as a campaign theme, a Flock 
spokeswoman emphasized the company's claims about the power of its technology, 
saying it helped "solve approximately one million crimes and helped reunite 
roughly 10,000 missing people with their families."

   "We ask anyone weighing in on this issue to engage with the facts and the 
record: the crimes solved, the families reunited, the safeguards already in 
place, and what our technology actually does," said MoMo Zhou, the company's 
vice president of communications. "We ask them to work with the communities 
using this technology to decide what rules should govern it and not to spread 
misinformation or ban a critical public safety tool outright that is helping to 
make communities safer."

   Flock opponents cite privacy concerns

   License plate reader technology is decades old, and Flock was founded in 
2017. But the company has faced a growing backlash this year -- one that's 
crescendoed in recent weeks. It has come as awareness has grown about the 
sweeping reach of Flock's network, litigation has unfolded over constitutional 
questions related to the use of the cameras, and news media have documented 
cases of officers misusing the technology to stalk personal connections.

   James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, recently 
declared, "Flock cameras have no place in Texas." His Republican opponent Ken 
Paxton's campaign didn't respond to a request for comment.

   Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Pennsylvania governor seeking reelection and 
considered a potential contender for the White House in 2028, said this week he 
would support a statewide ban. His Republican opponent, Pennsylvania Treasurer 
Stacy Garrity, said in a statement, "Flock cameras are an intrusive invasion of 
privacy and they should be banned."

   In Wisconsin, the issue dominated the governor's race this week.

   Democratic nominee David Crowley, who is taking hits over his past comments 
in support of making Wisconsin a global AI and data hub, highlighted that he 
had issued an order limiting the use of Flock cameras in Milwaukee County, 
where he serves as county executive. He said that as governor he would 
"implement strict transparency and accountability laws that ensure 
Wisconsinites are not spied on."

   His Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, said in a statement that he 
would pause state funding for Flock cameras and create a task force to 
establish stronger privacy protections, penalties for misuse, limits on data 
retention and sharing and "safeguards against Communist China and foreign 
adversaries."

   The Wisconsin Democratic Party responded by posting a clip of Tiffany in 
April saying in response to a question about Flock cameras that he didn't know 
what they were. Then the state Republican Party hit back, saying "Big Brother 
Crowley" had a long record of previously supporting police surveillance 
technologies.

   The issue has also infiltrated Rhode Island's gubernatorial race, where 
Democratic Gov. Dan McKee paused the installation of new cameras just weeks 
before the state's Sept. 9 primary, citing privacy and transparency concerns. 
His primary opponent, former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, has questioned 
McKee's motives for stopping the rollout so close to the election but agreed a 
review of how the data is being used was needed.

   In Michigan, self-described democratic socialist William Lawrence, a 
Democratic nominee for the U.S. House, recently addressed the cameras by 
calling them "the most un-American thing I can imagine." A spokesman for his 
opponent, incumbent Rep. Tom Barrett, noted that Barrett is a co-sponsor of 
legislation intended to ban federal agencies from using Flock cameras or other 
surveillance technology and to prevent state and local governments from using 
federal funds to buy them.

   In Florida, where outgoing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration 
this week ordered the removal of automated license plate readers from state 
highway rights-of-way, Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon's campaign is 
selling a T-shirt that reads, "FLORIDA NEEDS TO GET THE FLOCK OUT."

   Law enforcement groups support the technology

   While calls for bans or restrictions have mounted, other candidates have 
expressed more supportive or nuanced views, and policing groups have reiterated 
their strong backing for the company and its tech.

   Mitchell Davis III, chief of police in Hazel Crest, Illinois, and the 
president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, 
said in an interview that technology like Flock's is "invaluable" and that the 
conversations around it have become "disturbing."

   "The disturbing thing for me right now is I'm seeing these communities that 
are telling their police departments that we're no longer using these 
(automated license plate readers) in our communities, and that, I believe, 
that's a huge mistake. Talk about the proverbial throwing the baby out with the 
bathwater," he said. "Instead of focusing on eliminating the cameras, make sure 
that there's proper guidelines and proper accountability for misuse of the 
cameras."

   President Donald Trump said recently at an Oval Office event that his 
administration was studying the issue and would have more to say soon.

   Cayce Myers, an attorney who teaches courses that touch on public relations, 
political communications and privacy issues at Virginia Tech University, said 
Americans are increasingly living in a world where they are interfacing with 
new technologies like Flock cameras whether they want to or not.

   "I think there's a real synergy between the camera systems that we're 
talking about and also this greater societal discomfort with AI and technology 
in general," he said, adding that it seems obvious that new surveillance 
technologies will continue to become a major political issue.

   For Josh Chavez, Flock cameras are one of his concerns about the 
intersection of emerging technologies and civil liberties in his stretch of 
West Texas where data center projects are proliferating. Chavez, an HVAC 
installer, is outspoken enough on data centers that he was invited to 
participate in a recent roundtable on the subject with Democratic gubernatorial 
candidate Gina Hinojosa, who is also a Flock critic.

   "This is the government seeking more power, right?" Chavez said of the 
cameras. "In a partnership with Big Tech, who is seeking more money, all at the 
expense of us."