‘Creepy surveillance’: why some cities are shutting down Flock cameras amid privacy concerns

Some cities are cutting ties with firm that provides license plate reader cameras, others are signing new contracts and many are still looking for their footing In recent city council meetings in Dunwoody, Georgia, a spokesman for Flock Safety, a Georgia-based firm that provides automated license plate readers, has found himself in the hot seat again. For two months running, some residents of the affluent north Atlanta suburb in the region’s tech corridor have been demanding an end to the city’s contract with the security firm, which has drawn similar protest from California to New York. Between a recent change in terms of service that removed a line assuring customers that the company does not own and will not sell customer data – done to eliminate redundancy, Flock says – and videos circulating of hackers showing how they had obtained access to live video feeds from Flock cameras, Dunwoody residents and some members of the city council have been in in revolt. “When you hear from our police department saying they trust Flock, it’s clear that our police are too lazy to verify what a vendor such as Flock says,” said Joe Hirsh, a Dunwoody resident, haranguing the counci