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Hundreds of Flock license-plate readers have been installed around Miami-Dade and Broward counties.<\/p>\n
Flock Safety<\/p>\n
Those black, oval shaped devices you see popping up on poles in Miami-Dade and Broward counties aren\u2019t regular traffic cameras, they\u2019re AI-powered Flock cameras. And residents aren\u2019t too keen on their arrival.<\/p>\n
The cameras, also known as ALPR cameras, are powered by Flock Safety and use artificial intelligence to scan license plates. Other Flock technology uses audio-detecting technology to identify sounds like gunfire or car crashes.<\/p>\n
DeFlock<\/a>, an open-source project that maps where the cameras are in the U.S., shows almost 400 Flock cameras installed in Miami-Dade County. The site shows Broward County has twice that many at over 800 cameras, with a big concentration in the Fort Lauderdale area, including Pembroke Pines and Hollywood.<\/p>\n While the Flock Safety website states it partners with businesses and local communities to implement the technology, the company is most known for its partnerships with law-enforcement agencies, which are said to use the technology to solve crimes like missing persons or stolen vehicles.<\/p>\n It is unclear if any Miami-Dade or Broward agencies have partnerships with the company. Neither county\u2019s sheriff\u2019s office immediately responded to a Miami Herald inquiry about a contract or partnership with Flock, nor did police departments from Miami, Miami Gardens, Miami Beach, Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n A YouTube video might depict a relationship with Flock Safety and MDSO, though.<\/p>\n In the video<\/a>, posted by Flock Safety in March, Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office Major George Perera speaks with a Flock representative concerning a tip that the agency received about the security of the technology.<\/p>\n Perera said MDSO\u2019s Electronic Crimes Task Force analyzed the technology and found it to be secure.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel confident in the product to be able to continue to have a relationship,\u201d Perera said in the video.<\/p>\n Controversy about the cameras<\/p>\n Flock cameras have become so widespread, residents are taking to social media to air their grievances.<\/p>\n Tiffany Hudson, 38, of Plantation, created a Facebook group called \u201cGet the Flock Out of Florida\u201d after learning her city would implement close to 100 cameras. She said in a city of about 100,000 residents, that\u2019s a lot of cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are like, \u2018So what? Big deal, it snaps a picture of your car,\u2019\u201d she told a Miami Herald reporter. \u201cBut what happens is they put a camera on this street, then the next street, then the next street. \u2026 They have them all over the place, so you\u2019re under surveillance all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The Flock Safety website says the license plate-reading cameras don\u2019t detect faces, people, gender or race and its audio-detecting equipment<\/a> doesn\u2019t record conversations, but Floridians like Hudson are concerned about their data being tracked.<\/p>\n Unless stated otherwise by an individual contract \u2014 whether that be with a law-enforcement agency or business \u2014 the Flock website<\/a> says all data gathered from the cameras are only stored for 30 days. But that\u2019s not to say data isn\u2019t being sold, Hudson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening to our data,\u201d she said. \u201cOur data is being taken and given to [people or agencies] we don\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/p>\n On its website, Flock repeatedly states it does not sell data to third parties nor can any outside agencies access it without permission.<\/p>\n ICE and immigration worries<\/p>\n While Flock\u2019s website<\/a> says it doesn\u2019t work directly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or share data with the agency, it says individual agencies like police departments that partner with Flock can share the data if they choose.<\/p>\n Budget data from Florida\u2019s State Board of Immigration Enforcement states several law-enforcement agencies have requested funds for Flock cameras and similar ALPR technology.<\/p>\n \u201cFlock Safety ALPR scans plates in real-time, cross-referencing against immigration databases for warrants, deportees, or smuggling vehicles. Under 287(g) and ICE partnerships, it flags suspicious patterns on routes like US-19, aiding arrests and data sharing,\u201d one of the budget requests said.<\/p>\n Law-enforcement agencies outside of Florida have reevaluated their partnerships with the company based on similar concerns. In Dayton, Ohio<\/a>, the police department suspended its partnership with Flock and placed trash bags over its cameras after finding more than 7,000 cases of immigration enforcement-related searches. The Los Angeles Police Department ended its partnership with the company last week and is in the process of renegotiating<\/a> it over concerns of how Flock Safety stored the data.<\/p>\n In Miami Beach<\/p>\n Along the Venetian Causeway \u2014 one of the main links between Miami Beach and the mainland \u2014 DeFlock shows nine Flock cameras installed. In Miami Beach alone, the website shows four ALPR cameras \u2014 two of which are Flock Safety cameras \u2014 near the intersection of Alton Road and 14th Street.<\/p>\n Despite the low number of Flock cameras installed in the city, Miami Beach resident Alex Giassa, 56, said he thinks the company is a data-sharing scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just an invasion of privacy, it\u2019s really a violation of everything that we stand for as Americans,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, we have the Fourth Amendment, but isn\u2019t it our choice also when we want somebody to know something?\u201d<\/p>\n With Flock cameras, he said privacy takes on a new meaning \u2014 with people needing to recognize their actions are constantly monitored.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just infuriates me. \u2026 Regardless of where you go and who you meet with, you\u2019re being tracked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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