In response to privacy concerns regarding Flock camera data, Ohio State Senator Al Cutrona and Ohio State Representative Levi Dean are drafting two bills to regulate Flock cameras.
Flock cameras are known for their role as automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), which record vehicle sightings with a specific place and time. These details include license plates and vehicle characteristics and, when combined with AI, they can be used to track patterns. This becomes a significant privacy concern.
Data is saved for up to seven days, unless otherwise necessary for an investigation or if requested by the customer. Customers include law enforcement, college campuses and residential homeowner associations (HOAs). According to Flock, customers “own their data and control how it is used under their policies and applicable law.”
These cameras are located throughout the Case Western Reserve University campus, notably along Adelbert Road and Euclid Avenue.
In an interview with WOSU Public Media, Dean spoke about his work with the Legislative Service Commission on drafting a bill for stricter usage, particularly banning the use of Flock cameras from use by governmental entities and police departments unless permitted by a warrant.
“The legislation will prohibit any governmental entity collecting Flock camera data from sharing it with a third party or for personal use,” said Cutrona. With this bill, improperly using the data from Flock may result in a fourth-degree felony charge. This bill is currently pending introduction.
The bills aim to establish stronger regulation of the use of Flock cameras.
The CWRU Ohio Student Association’s (OSA) core mission is to represent and fight for what students believe in. Their current focus happens to be Flock surveillance issues.
When asked about the primary concern that students should be aware of regarding Flock cameras, OSA President Moses Fleischman pointed to data sharing. Despite restrictions and regulations, contracts are breached, and third parties still obtain information. Fleischman specifies that the use of this data includes stalking or surveilling people across the country due to its accessibility.
What is CWRU OSA’s solution? “I think the best regulation is to uproot them entirely from campus,” Fleischman stated. “One thing I want to make sure students know is that the student contract ends in 2027. We, the CWRU OSA, do not want this contract to continue, and we have a feeling that a lot of students would feel the same way if they knew.”