The Los Angeles Police Department is renegotiating its contract with Flock Safety, a provider of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), following a dispute over data privacy and control.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley stated that the company has implemented technical safeguards in California to address privacy concerns, asserting that the technology is designed to capture only license plates and not view inside vehicles or identify individuals. He emphasized that the data is stored for a maximum of 30 days before permanent deletion and that the customer, in this case, the LAPD, retains full control over the data.
"We can’t see into a car. We can’t see a person’s heart rate. We cannot read the contents of their cell phone," Langley told The California Post. "What we can do is take a picture of their license plate."
Activists have raised concerns that Flock's ALPRs could facilitate surveillance and that data might be shared with federal agencies, potentially aiding in the tracking of undocumented immigrants. Langley refuted these claims, stating that the company has installed firewalls to prevent ALPR data from being transferred out of California, in compliance with state regulations.
"The customer has complete control over where the data goes and who they share with, with an asterisk — so in a place like California, it is a violation of state regulation to take data, ALPR data out of California and move it to another state," Langley explained.
Flock Safety also addressed concerns regarding data ownership and monetization. Langley clarified that the company does not own the data and has no legal right to sell it or use it for purposes other than public safety. "This is a public safety utility and so we don’t own the data," he said.
The LAPD halted its use of Flock's cameras after its contract expired due to disagreements over data control. Langley expressed optimism that the differences will be resolved, allowing the department to resume normal business operations with the technology.
"It’s very clear who owns the data, how it’s shared, how it’s not shared," Langley commented on the LAPD's decision, adding he believes the parties will "be back to normal business."
Langley founded Flock Safety in 2017 with the goal of enhancing community safety while respecting privacy. He acknowledged the criticisms the company has faced regarding data security and detailed recent improvements, including mandatory multi-factor authentication and an ongoing audit by an independent firm. Flock plans to publish the results of its penetration tests and remediation efforts.
"Data security is a place where we’ve gotten our fair amount of criticisms over the last year, and we’ve listened," Langley said. "You’ll see here in a few weeks, we’ll, you know, fully publish their penetration test in all of our remediations."