An advocacy group seeking to "DeFlock" the city of Albany held an event Wednesday to raise awareness about the presence of Flock's automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras.
At the so-called Flock Safari, hosted by Indivisible Albany, attendees traveled to checkpoints around Washington Park where an advocate is stationed, ready to dole out information about Flock Safety, one of the nation’s largest providers of ALPRs.
At one stop along the journey, participants learned how to identify a Flock camera.
"If you look above you on this post, you see, not only are there multiple Flock cameras, which we can point out are the black ones with the little round thing below it," an advocate said, "but there's also other ALPRs on this pole as well."
The advocate said it's important to learn how to identify these cameras because of the way they are being used.
"With this type of technology that is unregulated currently, essentially, law enforcement can gather anything they want at any time without a warrant, and obviously that's a big problem," they said.
Flock Safety has been at the center of controversy across the nation as municipalities grapple with how to address public safety and privacy concerns. In Albany, the debate is focused on the city's current contract with Flock.
At the next checkpoint, at Englewood and State streets, another advocate spoke about how the data the cameras collect is often incorrect.
"Flock uses AI," the advocate said. "If a police officer says, 'Hey, I've got four out of the seven things, Hey AI, fill this in for me,' imagine getting wrong plates, getting flagged for something that you didn't do, getting flagged for something states over. If I'm here in New York, it has already happened where someone in one state is getting flagged in another state for a misread."
Opponents of license plate readers say access to data from Flock cameras is abused, making them liable to invasion of privacy. They point to stories of wrongful flagging, misuse by law enforcement, and data breaches.
Supporters — often law enforcement agencies that use the cameras — say the cameras are a useful tool for catching criminals, saving officers time, and streamlining their work. Flock Safety recently announced a series of changes set to take effect by Jan. 1.
The changes are aimed at regulating the use of the company's cameras. These include flagging abnormal search behavior and giving law enforcement agencies the ability to block outside searches such as those related to immigration enforcement.
According to Indivisible Albany, the city currently has over two dozen Flock cameras stationed around the city.
Before the last stop on the journey, Leyla Kiosse, the operational lead of Indivisible Albany, said the local effort is indicative of a larger message the DeFlock movement is trying to send out.
"They are not about safety," Kiosse said. "They are surveillance. And the other thing that you need to know about Flock is that this is a for-profit company."
In a statement regarding Flock use, Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox said data collected by Flock cameras in Albany is not shared with federal agencies unless it is related to a crime or an imminent threat. He understands concerns some community members have, but he also noted that the cameras help hold criminals accountable and aid in searching for missing or endangered persons.
