Controversy around automatic license plate readers prompted one leading company to tighten privacy measures, but critics of the technology say the devices remain a "major threat" to civil liberties.
Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety
, told USA TODAY the company is enacting measures to prevent abuse of power after law enforcement officers across the country were caught using the technology for personal, non-law enforcement purposes.Here's what you need to know about the technology.
What are Flock cameras?
Flock is one brand of automated license plate reader, produced by Flock Safety. They capture a vehicle's license plate number, make, model, color and other identifying features, like bumper stickers and body damage. Authorities can search a database to find the exact
location of any car anytime it's picked up by a camera.
Flock says it has 120,000 cameras in 49 states.
Local law enforcement, municipalities and private entities such as homeowners and business owners may install the cameras to capture and deter crime, but critics say the network of cameras is essentially mass surveillance.
Current and former law enforcement officers across the country have also been disciplined, fired or charged for allegedly using the system of cameras to stalk people, including romantic partners. In Texas, law enforcement used the cameras to search for a woman who they said had a self-administered abortion.
In an interview with USA TODAY, Langley said Flock Safety is taking a stand against police abuse of power. New measures rolling out Aug. 13 will help put a stop to police misusing the system and send up flags for any attempted misuse, he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union released a statement on Aug. 13 arguing the changes won't be enough.
"ALPR companies like Flock violate our privacy across the country by taking photos of every vehicle passing their cameras, logging detailed information about them into a massive nationwide database, and making it possible to track those vehicles and apply AI to uncover their occupants’ private patterns of life," the statement read.
Are there Flock cameras in Memphis?
There are around 1,000 Flock cameras in the Memphis metro area, according to DeFlock, an open-source project that maps license plate readers across the United States.
The highest concentration of Flock cameras are in Downtown, Midtown and parts of East Memphis, including White Station. There are around 90 cameras in Downtown and Midtown, including several clustered in the Medical District.
You can also check if someone has searched your license plate using the Flock system with Have I Been Flocked.
The site aggregates records of searches performed by Flock's customers' data that have been released via open records requests. The license plates and search reasons are what someone manually entered into the system, but the site doesn't show if your vehicle passed a Flock camera.
Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jack.armstrong@commercialappeal.com and followed on X @jca2902.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Flock cameras are in Memphis. See where, if your plate has been searched
