Flock Safety, a prominent provider of automated license plate recognition (ALPR) technology, has announced new safeguards for its systems. The move comes in response to documented instances where law enforcement officers utilized the company’s surveillance network to stalk or harass citizens. The company’s technology, which uses cameras to track vehicle movements in real-time, has become a standard tool for many police departments across the United States.

While the company has not released a granular technical breakdown of every update, the new protocols are designed to increase oversight and restrict unauthorized access to the data collected by these cameras. The reports of misuse have sparked a broader national conversation regarding the balance between public safety and individual privacy. Privacy advocates have long argued that the widespread deployment of ALPR systems creates a high risk for abuse, as the data can be used to track the daily habits and locations of private citizens without their knowledge or consent.

Flock Safety maintains that its technology is a vital tool for solving crimes and that these new measures will ensure the system is used exclusively for its intended purpose. The company is currently working to integrate these safeguards into existing police department contracts. Critics, however, suggest that technical safeguards may not be enough to prevent systemic misuse, pointing to the inherent difficulty in monitoring how individual officers interact with sensitive surveillance data once it is accessible through their department's portal.