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Flock Safety security cameras in a 2019 file photo.<\/p>\n
Andy Cross<\/p>\n
The Denver Post\/TNS<\/p>\n
Your car could be photographed while you\u2019re driving around North Texas, even if you haven\u2019t broken any traffic laws.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because police departments across the Dallas-Fort Worth area<\/a> use automated license plate readers known as Flock cameras<\/a> to collect information about vehicles and help investigate crimes.<\/p>\n At least 648 of the cameras have been mapped in Tarrant County<\/a> alone, according to DeFlock<\/a>, a project that tracks camera locations.<\/p>\n But what information can the cameras capture about your car? Can they see who\u2019s driving? What happens to the data afterward?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what Texans should know.<\/p>\n What do Flock cameras do?<\/p>\n Flock cameras capture information about vehicles traveling on public roads. They can photograph license plates and identify details about a vehicle, including its make, model and color, according to Flock Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other visible features, like bike racks, trailers or toolboxes, can also be picked up to help police tell one vehicle from another, along with when and where the vehicle passed the camera.<\/p>\n Police can use that information to search for stolen vehicles, cars connected to active warrants, and vehicles connected to other crimes.<\/p>\n However, Flock Safety says the technology focuses on vehicles, not the people inside them.<\/p>\n The cameras don\u2019t collect driver information or biometric data and don\u2019t use facial recognition, according to the company.<\/p>\n Flock cameras also aren\u2019t designed to detect speed or automatically issue speeding or red-light tickets.<\/p>\n What happens to the information collected by Flock cameras?<\/p>\n Information collected by Flock cameras is automatically deleted after 30 days by default, according to Flock Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Until then, the police department using the cameras control who can search the system.<\/p>\n The information isn\u2019t available in a public database, and each search is tied to the person who made it and recorded in a log for supervisors to review.<\/p>\n Police departments also set their own rules for sharing Flock camera information with others, according to the company.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n
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