Tempe turns off its Flock license plate reader system, citing privacy concerns and risk for 'misuse'

More cities are stepping distant from collaborations pinch Flock.

Tempe, Arizona, said connected Wednesday that it unopen down its web of Flock Safety license sheet readers and plans to terminate its statement pinch the surveillance company, citing privateness risks and cases of alleged misuse reported by different cities.

The metropolis said that it would not switch the strategy pinch exertion from different provider. Tempe operated 33 Flock cameras, which constabulary utilized to place vehicles during investigations.

"These cameras person helped our constabulary officers do their jobs, and we don't discount that," Mayor Corey Woods said successful a nationalist statement. "But the consequence of misuse is excessively great. We person to beryllium capable to supply nationalist information successful a measurement that maintains the spot of our community. For Tempe, that intends taking these cameras down."

Tempe constabulary said successful a property merchandise that monthly audits had uncovered nary improper searches of the city's Flock system. A adjacent city, Apache Junction, had put an serviceman connected administrative time off aft the serviceman was accused of utilizing the Flock strategy to way his wife.

According to the city's property release, the cameras whitethorn stay visible until Flock removes them, but they are nary longer collecting licence sheet information. Existing records are mostly deleted aft 30 days unless connected to an progressive lawsuit aliases investigation.

Law enforcement agencies opportunity Flock's exertion helps officers place vehicles and find suspects, including by searching for a circumstantial car crossed tens of thousands of cameras nationwide.

But the strategy has besides faced a growing backlash. Tempe joins a increasing number of communities that person canceled, paused, aliases suspended their contracts complete privateness risks, imaginable misuse, and the sharing of information pinch national migration authorities.

The Los Angeles Police Department precocious allowed its statement pinch Flock to expire aft an audit raised concerns astir national agencies' entree to the data. Mountain View, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara County, South Pasadena, Flagstaff, and Hillsborough, North Carolina, person besides ended their relationships pinch the institution since 2025.

Flock, founded successful 2017, operates much than 80,000 cameras nationwide. The devices, typically mounted connected poles and thoroughfare signs, usage instrumentality learning to seizure license sheet numbers and letters, arsenic good arsenic conveyance characteristics for illustration color, model, dents, and bumper stickers.

Flock did not instantly respond to a petition for comments.