Knox County, Tennessee, Mayor Glenn Jacobs is calling for a nationwide pause on the deployment of Flock surveillance cameras, citing constitutional, privacy, and safety concerns. Jacobs argues that while law enforcement should have access to tools that help solve crimes, the newer Flock technology goes beyond conventional license plate readers and lacks sufficient safeguards.
Constitutional Concerns
Jacobs pointed to dozens of cases of abuse, emphasizing the need for guardrails and an updated regulatory framework before further deployment. The laws regarding license plate readers in Tennessee date back to 2014, with a minor update in 2021, and have not kept pace with the significant advancements in technology since then.
Flock Safety, a leading vendor of automated license plate readers, has seen its cameras deployed in over 6,000 communities, working with more than 1,000 businesses and 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, resulting in billions of vehicle scans per month. The company claims that the data it collects is automatically deleted after 30 days by default, unless an agency establishes a different retention period.
The debate over Flock cameras is not limited to Tennessee, as lawmakers in West Virginia’s Freedom Caucus are seeking to ban the AI-powered cameras statewide, arguing that they violate citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
