On Monday, October 20th, the Cambridge City Council voted to temporarily halt the city’s use of automatic license plate reader technology, including Flock Safety, because of concerns about privacy and data sharing with the federal government.
Many community members offered oral public testimony, including members of Digital Fourth, the ACLU, collaborators, and other concerned citizens. Much of this testimony focused on issues with Flock Safety specifically, especially their issues with Flock’s recent history of sharing information with federal agencies.
Members of the city council, including those who had voted in favor of moving forward with Flock Safety in February, were surprised and concerned by the issues with Flock Safety that were raised during public comment. Specifically, they were concerned by the idea that the information collected by Flock Safety cameras owned by Cambridge might be shared with Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Council Member Marc McGovern, who had initially voted in favor of Flock Safety in February, stated his concern about the testimony shared about the breaches of contract committed by Flock Safety against communities like Evanston, IL. McGovern said that “there are all sorts of loopholes in the control that we became more aware of over time.”
After over an hour of public comment, the council voted unanimously to refer the issue to the Public Safety committee, and in the meantime, to suspend or revoke the use of Flock cameras. Many councilors expressed the desire to allow time for more public comment.
The Cambridge Police Department has stated that none of the Flock Safety cameras are operational. Volunteers with Digital Fourth independently verified that the cameras have been removed.
The governor’s thoughts on the development were shared in a recent CBS News article. She stated that “cameras are ubiquitous” and came out unambiguously in support of “responsible surveillance technology …when it comes to the investigation and deterrence of crime.” It remains to be seen what the Cambridge City Council and the Public Safety Committee will decide constitutes “responsible use.”
Several members mentioned the possibility of working with a different automatic license plate reader company. However, recent reports have detailed issues of data sharing by other automatic license plate reader companies, as well. According to a recent report by 404 Media, an app recently demoed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) allows officers to scan a license plate with their phones and cross-check it with millions of other records, like marriage records, license data, vehicle ownership, voter registrations, and ALPR data. This app partners with another ALPR company, Motorola Solutions. Though Flock has a particularly spotty record, when a municipal police department partners with an ALPR company, it is always difficult to confirm that the data collected by the cameras will not be used for purposes that the police department would not approve of. Even if an ALPR company seems to be using the data that they collect ethically at one point, this does not preclude them from changing their policies in the future.
On December 9th, the city will discuss the Flock Safety at a Public Safety Committee meeting from 12pm-2pm. Invited panelists will include a Cambridge-based Digital Fourth representative, representatives from the ACLU, the Cambridge Police Department, and Flock Safety.
As the Cambridge City Council prepares to turn over after the recent election, it is a vital time for privacy-concerned residents of Cambridge to make their voices heard.