INDIANA — Automated license plate reader company Flock Safety announced Thursday a series of mandatory system updates designed to curb law enforcement abuse and ease mounting privacy concerns.
The Atlanta-based tech company operates a massive national camera network used by thousands of law enforcement agencies across 49 states, including Indiana. While police credit the cameras with helping solve violent crimes and find missing individuals, critics argue the widespread surveillance violates privacy rights. More than 50 jurisdictions have recently canceled or suspended Flock contracts following reports of officers misusing the tool to illegally track friends, family, and romantic partners.
In response, Flock CEO Garrett Langley revealed that several previously optional safeguards will become mandatory for all law enforcement clients by Jan. 1.
Key updates to the platform include:
- Automated Auditing & Lockouts: All clients must implement an audit tool that automatically flags abnormal search behavior and locks out suspicious users pending an internal review.
- Mandatory Case Numbers: Officers must input an official records management case number before initiating a search. Emergency overrides will be automatically flagged.
- Shortened Data Retention: Standard data retention will drop from 30 days to seven days, unless the data is preserved as evidence tied to a specific case.
- Custom Search Filtering: Local agencies can restrict outside departments from searching their data based on specific offense types, allowing cities to block searches related to immigration enforcement.
Despite the updates, civil liberties advocates remain skeptical. Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Institute for Justice characterized the measures as insufficient “window dressing,” arguing that searches of this scale should require judicial warrants rather than internal police oversight
