Flock Safety fights back

Embroiled in a widening controversy over use of their license-plate reader cameras, privately owned US company Flock Safety put out this emotive campaign highlighting the virtues of its technology. Automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are used to help police with traffic offenses and other criminal activities, but have sparked public backlash over their potential and perceived threat as a surveillance tool. Not the only provider, Flock Safety now has some 80,000 cameras installed across the nation. Though surveillance concerns over the use of these monitors are far from recent, this year has seen a surge in protests such as direct action with members of the public disabling the cameras on the streets of local commmunities. As reported by Politico: ""They have concerns about the rapidly expanding technology, that the tech involved in domestic surveillance is kind of expanding faster than the law can deal with it,” said Mike Williamson, a Democratic hopeful for Virginia’s state Senate in 2027. “So it’s not just Flock with a camera on a pole looking at a fixed place.
We now know that they’re developing use of drone surveillance … so now people have serious concerns about ‘when am I being watched? When am I being surveilled?"" The American Civil Liberties Union puts it like this: "If there are Flock cameras in your city, they are tracking, logging, and sharing your movements without a warrant". What do you think of this ad - does it do an effective job of redressing the balance, or come across as an obvious damage containment exercise?

Keywords: Flock Safety 10,000 Missing People Found, missing persons, Flock cameras, tech use for policing, privacy invasion, surveillance USA,