photo from Flock Safety
FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – On “Afternoons Live”, Institute For Justice Attorney Michael Soyfer, who’s suing the city of San Jose, California, says data from flock cameras are being searched 15,000 times per day.
The cameras scan license plates and log a vehicle’s make, model, and other identifiers like bumper stickers.
“With that volume of searches, there’s no way to make sure that they’re all legitimate and we never know how in the future the government might use or abuse these types of databases that are collecting information indiscriminately about law abiding people,” Soyfer said.
Fargo Police say the cameras have helped the department find stolen vehicles and vehicles used during crimes. The department adds they don’t see the person in the vehicle and don’t use artificial intelligence.
Soyfer believes there are still concerns for people not breaking the law but whose vehicles are being scanned by flock cameras.
“When very few of the data points are actually relevant to investigations, even small error rates on the part of the cameras, on the part of police, can result on a lot of people wrongly investigated, being wrongly detained, even held at gunpoint,” Soyfer said.
A protest of flock cameras is scheduled for 4:00 PM on Saturday August 15 at 13th Avenue and 45th Street South in Fargo.
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