A recent filing by Flock Safety, a fast-growing US surveillance technology company, reveals how countering automated license plate readers is happening at the local level.
In South Carolina, officials have been debating whether to install 25 new cameras, a dispute that reflects broader questions about cost, oversight, and how much surveillance communities are willing to accept. The city of Los Angeles recently terminated its contract with Flock Safety, although Flock’s CEO says the suspension should be temporary while the police department reviews its rules.
These cancellations are fueled in large part by public concerns about a system designed to enable mass surveillance, which can have serious abuses, including biased policing and violations of privacy.
To track such surveillance, journalists and researchers are increasingly turning to a free tool called the Atlas of Surveillance, a collaboration between the popular digital privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the University of Nevada, Reno. The site has become a source for police recording technology – including drones, facial recognition cameras and body cameras – with a searchable database that is often more reliable than alternatives.
With the Atlas of Surveillance tool, you enter a city, state, county, law enforcement agency or vendor in the US and choose which technology you’d like to track. You will find a list of information based on your search, including links to public records or news articles.
“We often come across situations where local council people don’t even know a particular tool is being used,” said Beryl Lipton, senior researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Learning about technology that we have included in the Atlas of Surveillance is aimed at helping people to have conversations. [about] whether that tool is appropriate for use in the area, start asking questions, and advocate for standards about how their police can or cannot use these tools.”
Surveillance
While other tools of tracking Flock cameras and similar surveillance systems exist, I prefer the EFF method, which uses reliable data from specific volunteers, including students and staff at the University of Nevada, as well as experienced researchers. These volunteers use a variety of information, including government documents, press releases, news stories and verified social media posts, to create a list of exactly what surveillance technology is being used by local police or sheriff’s departments, and when it was adopted.
Deflock, another popular crowdsourced Flock camera location reporting app, has an open design that leaves you vulnerable to false reports from people only. think they see a surveillance device. Self-reporting is also becoming less reliable as surveillance cameras are hidden in speed signs and cacti.
I tested the Atlas tool with searches in several locations, including Albany, Georgia, where five police officers were fired and arrested in July on charges of abusing the city’s herd system. Of course, I saw exactly when Albany launched its Flock system, among other details about the technology it uses.
“Even though we know that the police department has a tool, we may not know that they don’t have a regulatory policy or policy, such as how long information is kept,” Lipton told me.
Lipton recommends that users pair the Atlas tool with the EFF’s Street-Level Surveillance hub, which provides in-depth documentation, including details of third-party vendors that cooperate with law enforcement.
The Atlas database is not complete, and volunteers can do so much more. In my search, I found that my city offers an accurate list of traffic cameras, but I didn’t mention the time it adopted Flock automatic license plate readers last year, before removing them after a public complaint. I have seen similar patterns in other cities with similar histories, suggesting that the database may be emphasizing active programs or omitting parts of older records.
Resources like the Atlas of Surveillance give citizens a clear view of the technology used by police departments, information that can be hard to come by. As I’ve covered before, some cities will carefully drop the word “Herd” when announcing new surveillance or monitoring programs, even if they use commercial drones or ALPR cameras.
If you would like to volunteer for the Atlas of Surveillance, you can select the participation option to submit a data point for consideration.
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