SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — San Jose City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a plan that would restrict the use of Flock cameras and its data.
It comes after several Bay Area cities ended their contracts with the automated license plate reader company over data security breaches.
Concerned community groups have been pushing for San Jose to ditch Flock altogether.
About 100 people went before San Jose City Council Tuesday afternoon to voice their opinions about Flock cameras in their city.
“I’m appalled to know I’m being surveilled by Flock cameras,” said Marjorie Seagall.
“If this tool is effective in fighting crime, don’t break the tool,” said another speaker.
“I want the criminals found. This makes it better for our understaffed police department,” said a San Jose woman.
MORE: Residents rally to demand Richmond keep Flock cameras on and extend contract
“At Secure Justice, we are urging San Jose to end its use of APLRS. This technology creates a system of mass surveillance, tracking the movements of millions of drivers who are not suspected of any crime across California; we are already seeing how these systems are misused,” said Sameena Usman, Government Relations Manager for Secure Justice.
San Jose City Council has been looking at the future of Flock cameras.
On Tuesday, council members heard the police chief’s proposal to change data retention from one year to 30 days.
The plan would also ban cameras around houses of worship and certain health care facilities.
Immigrant rights advocates and community groups firmly opposed to Flock cameras and automated license plate readers spoke out right before the council met.
“We’ve seen how these cameras have been abused across the country. We can see these issues and they’re happen here where the government says they always stand with local immigrants,” said Huy Tran, SIREN Executive Director.
MORE: Santa Clara County to stop using Flock Safety cameras in several cities after privacy concerns
The San Jose Police Department license plate reader program includes 474 cameras around the city.
Opponents want the city to ditch the vendor Flock Safety.
Others say moves to limit Flock’s data retention to 30 days does not limit the danger of the surveillance technology.
“They track every person. You don’t have to be suspected of a crime. You are on camera, and you are being tracked wherever the cameras are present,” said Tran.
A public safety advocate explains why he believes Flock is a worthy crime-fighting tool.
“Without the Flock, its s very hard for the police department. to do their job when they don’t even staff,” said Issa Ajlouny, president of Safer San Jose. “I personally have dealt with crime in our neighborhood, sending the information to the detectives and they’re able to use the information to solve the crime.”
MORE: Mountain View suspends license plate readers; agencies accessed Flock camera data without consent
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan stands behind the council’s decision to keep Flock cameras and to add safeguards.
He released this statement Tuesday saying:
“We have a responsibility to ensure the technology we use to support our police department are held to the same high standard as our officers. I applaud Chief Joseph for putting forward safeguards that ensure we can continue to leverage this technology responsibly and for its intended purpose – keeping San Joseans safe.”
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