Two towns in Connecticut, Windsor and Killingworth, are ending their contracts with Flock Safety, a company that operates automated license plate readers. The decision comes after concerns were raised about the privacy and security of the data collected by the cameras.

Privacy Concerns

Windsor Mayor Nuchette Black-Burke stated that while the tool is important, the vendor is not what the town wants. She expressed concerns about where the information is going and whether it is being sold to third parties. Black-Burke also mentioned that the cameras helped the Windsor police solve a stolen-car case a few years ago, but now she is worried about the potential risks to citizens’ privacy.

Eric Weiner, who led the charge to remove Flock cameras, did a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and found that Windsor’s data was searched 590,000 times over the course of nine weeks. This discovery shocked him and raised more concerns about the company’s handling of the data.

Company Response

Flock Safety stated that their cameras have helped locate over 10,000 missing people and supported more than a million investigations nationwide last year. The company also claimed that local agencies control access to the data, but Black-Burke believes that national agencies could still see the information.

The Windsor town council voted to end its contract with Flock, and Killingworth is also not renewing its contract for its four Flock cameras. A state law that sets restrictions on these cameras is set to go into effect in October.

Original reporting: NBC Connecticut (Hartford) — read the source article.