Flock Safety, a prominent operator of automated license-plate reading technology, has ceased working with federal bodies like the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. The suspension stems from apprehensions regarding the nature of federal probes and potential legal complications, articulated in Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias's announcement of an audit revealing unauthorized data access by federal agencies in contradiction to state law.
Per Garrett Langley, founder and CEO of Flock Safety, the decision to suspend the collaborations was influenced by the need to clarify the intended use of the data derived from the company's comprehensive network of cameras, which is installed across over 4,000 communities and captures billions of license plate images every month, the company and local agencies, who technically own this data, are the ones receiving law enforcement inquiries this information according to the ABC News.
Giannoulias, having propelled a 2023 law that prohibits data sharing for the pursuit of immigration or out-of-state abortion cases by police, declared, "This sharing of license plate data of motorists who drive on Illinois roads is a clear violation of the state law." He stressed that the intent of the legislation was precisely to prevent such scenarios. The revelation of the data breach has sparked a wider discussion about the safeguards necessary when handling sensitive information and the enforcement of existing laws designed for privacy protection. Langley conceded that Flock Safety had "clearly communicated poorly" and neglected to establish "distinct permissions and protocols in the Flock system to ensure local compliance for federal agency users," demonstrating an awareness of their missteps.
Adjustments have been enacted by Flock Safety in response to Illinois' concerns; federal inquiries will now be prominently tagged, and expansive searches by federal entities are restricted to direct requests to specific police departments - an alteration that ostensibly provides a layer of scrutiny. Following a previous episode where police shared data with a Texas sheriff in a case inadvertently linked to an abortion, Langley's company has also programmed its system to dismiss queries featuring keywords such as "abortion," "immigration," or "ICE," the specifics of which were disclosed by a Flock Safety spokesperson.
