Facing mounting criticism, Flock plans steps to answer concerns

Strengthening privacy, accountability and security. That’s the new focus license-plate-reading camera giant Flock said it plans after facing widespread criticism across the U.S.

The company has faced mounting scrutiny for blanketing public rights-of-way – and even private property – with advanced automatic license plate reading cameras, or ALPRs, and for how local law enforcement has used and, in some cases, abused that data.

There’s also growing alarm over the security of Flock’s massive license-plate database itself. On Wednesday’s The States, West Virginia State Delegate Tristan Leavitt voiced those exact concerns about the risk of a breach. He said a Flock representative spoke to the legislature and took questions about stories of the network being hacked.

“He was asked by my colleague, a delegate from an area that has just adopted Flock cameras in their municipality, about videos on YouTube purporting to contain hacked video. And he sa...