As we move forward into the new year, we see new artificial intelligence capabilities being developed faster than ever before and it can be difficult to keep up especially in the government sector.
Many communities around Arizona including the city of Surprise have implemented several mass surveillance Flock Safety Automatic License Plate Reader Cameras that capture your vehicle license plate, color of vehicle, make of vehicle, roof racks and bumper stickers.
Every time you drive past a Flock ALPR camera it stores your license plate information and vehicle photos for 30 days into an Amazon Web Service Cloud platform data base that can be shared nationally with other law enforcement agencies who participate in the Flock ALPR sharing networks.
The city of Surprise has no control over the polices or use of such shared data from other police agencies across the nation that can easily obtain your vehicle information. There have been several documented cases nationally of misuse of such systems recently and this can be easily referenced through an online search.
Recently, I filed a FOIA request with the city of Surprise to obtain my own vehicles Flock Camera captures to see if I could see how many times my vehicle’s information was captured and what particular intersections my vehicle camera captures occurred.
I was quickly denied that FOIA request from the city of Surprise without much explanation. Other communities in Arizona who utilize Flock ALPR cameras have fulfilled this same exact FOIA request for individuals without any issues.
Example, if you drive past a Flock ALPR camera everyday heading to work for one month, your information will be held in the data cloud for 900 days and can be looked at by anyone who uses Flock ALPR. This system is an unconstitutionally warrantless broad search casting a wide dragnet of private information from what church you attend on Sundays to what doctor’s office you drive to and where your child attends school based on your daily movements of camera captures.
I also have brought my concerns to our city’s elected officials last September at a public meet and greet and was immediately gaslighted in person by City Councilmember Jack Hastings over the use government mass surveillance in our city. Hastings has made it very clear in his conversations and actions that he supports mass surveillance, and he has recently received a campaign contribution for his re-election from the company AXON who also produces ALPR cameras and artificial intelligence cameras that are sold to government agencies.
I would also like to thank Councilmember Johnny Melton for taking the time to learn more about the city’s Flock ALPR system with his recent audit, and to Councilmember Patrick Duffy asking great questions to Police Chief Evan Becher during the council work session overview of Flock Safety ALPR, and to Arizona House Rep. Nick Kupper for his unwavering support to see these cameras shut down throughout our state.
Get involved and show up to a city council meeting and let our elected leaders know that our privacy and Fourth Amendment need to be protected, start some groups to rally together and let your friends and neighbors know about the dangers of government mass surveillance and the importance to have these cameras shut down in the city of Surprise.
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