North Texas Backlash Grows Against 120,000 Flock Cameras as Privacy Fears Spread
Updated
Updated · KERA News · Aug 9
North Texas Backlash Grows Against 120,000 Flock Cameras as Privacy Fears Spread
3 articles · Updated · KERA News · Aug 9
Summary
Denton and Carrollton have become the latest North Texas flashpoints as residents push back against Flock license plate readers that police say help solve crimes.
More than 120,000 Flock cameras now operate nationwide, and their solar-powered design lets departments install them quickly and link them to a searchable national database.
That network is driving the backlash: The New York Times cited cases in which officers tracked a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion and abused access to monitor romantic partners.
Cities including Los Angeles and Dayton, Ohio, have suspended Flock contracts over data-sharing concerns, while residents elsewhere have cut down, painted over or shot at cameras.
The dispute has drawn bipartisan opposition, with critics arguing the technology gives ordinary officers broad power to trace nearly any vehicle with only a few keystrokes.