Midterm voters reject Flock surveillance cameras amid privacy concerns

In League City, a suburb of Houston, Texas, a majority of voters opposed keeping the city’s automated license plate reader system, according to unofficial election results. The city currently has 55 AI-powered cameras deployed throughout the community.

In York, Maine, residents approved a citizen-led initiative banning ALPRs effective immediately. The small town of approximately 14,000 residents had used Flock cameras for just over a year, and the measure also requires voter approval before any future surveillance technology can be deployed. The vote follows similar decisions by other Maine towns to remove such cameras.

Meanwhile, voters in Pflugerville, Texas, approved a proposition amending the city charter to require the city council "to adopt protections governing the collection, use, retention, and oversight of data, facial recognition, and surveillance technologies." The council had unanimously approved policies to review surveillance technology just one week prior.

Opposition to surveillance technology extended beyond ALPRs. In Arizona, voters statewide overwhelmingly approved a measure banning photo traffic enforcement systems. The proposal prohibits the government from installing or using new photo enforcement systems that detect traffic violations, and municipalities already operating such systems will be required to obtain local voter approval to continue.

Flock cameras have been at the center of concerns regarding government surveillance. The AI-powered systems have been deployed on streets across the county and can capture license plate numbers, vehicle characteristics, and other identifying information. Law enforcement agencies can subsequently search the data as part of investigations.

However, critics have raised concerns about potential misuse of the technology, including instances in which law enforcement officers have allegedly used the system for personal purposes, such as tracking ex-romantic partners.

In September, Senator Josh Hawley raised concerns after revealing that Flock cameras can capture images of people inside their vehicles and that the company’s database can be searched using images of individuals. Hawley had previously announced an investigation into the company, sending a letter to Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley demanding answers about the security and handling of data collected.

“In a few short years, Flock has assembled an unprecedented national surveillance network,” Hawley noted in the letter. “Your company boasts more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states and more than 20 billion vehicle scans every month. The overwhelming majority of the Americans captured in those records did nothing wrong."