Introducing What the Flock?!
Photo by Mass 50501 Volunteer.
Mass 50501 continues our work at the municipal and state levels to remove Flock cameras from our communities and people are paying attention! Things are changing fast and it can be tough to keep up with all the news. We’ll continue to post blogs about Flock (check our previous articles here). In our new feature, What the Flock?!, we’ll provide you with quick info from Flock news nationwide. This information could be helpful in removing cameras from your city or town! As always, if you’re interested in getting more involved, email us at flockoff@mass50501.org and join us in Discord! Here’s our first news round-up:
In February, NPR gave a broad overview of Flock’s many problems, including data sharing across state lines and with federal agencies; Flock CEO Garrett Langley’s branding of opposition efforts as “coordinated attacks” from "the same activist groups who want to defund the police, weaken public safety, and normalize lawlessness;” and communities that have cancelled or are working to cancel their Flock contracts. A March TechSpot article similarly reported on the controversy surrounding Flock. Have I Been Flocked reported on troubling changes to Flock’s contract terms. If you want to hear about problems from some experts, the researchers at 404 Media did a Reddit AMA about Flock and the state of surveillance in the US. A family in Illinois was blocked from enrolling in their local school district (despite owning a home in the district) because an ALPR system tracked their vehicle as being parked out of district for a period of time over the summer. And for some local reporting: The Lowell Sun wrote negatively about Flock Safety due to cameras in Tewksbury, Lowell, and Billerica. If YouTube is more your thing, check out Louis Rossmann’s reporting (independent electronics technician, YouTuber, and consumer rights activist).
Now for the good news: a commissioner in Camden County, MO motioned to enforce an established ordinance banning ALPRs on the county’s roads. While he was outvoted 2-1, we applaud his efforts! Contracts have been paused or cancelled in Dunwoody, GA; San Jose, CA; Dane County, WI (after some shady practices by Flock); and our very own Attleboro, MA! Notice—most of these contracts were cancelled by City Council vote, which is why talking to your municipal leaders is extremely important. Louis Rossman has a video detailing a tool to alert you when AI-surveillance is on a meeting agenda in your community!
More specific good news for Massachusetts: MA House Bill H.3755, legislation that would impose meaningful statewide LPR guardrails (data retention and sharing limits), just advanced out of the Transportation Committee and now awaits action in the House Ways and Means Committee! Reach out to your House representative and let them know how important this legislation is. The next step is to make sure the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee knows that MA voters care about passing this bill. See our Action page for how to contact your representative and for message templates.
And finally, here are two resources to help you learn more about this issue and take further action: Codeberg’s Deflock your City toolkit and Get the Flock Out of Here database.
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