Flock cameras being used to battle drunk driving | FOX 5 News
The short version: FOX 5 Atlanta frames Flock cameras as a new tool against drunk driving, but the story is really about mission creep for a network built on unchecked plate surveillance.
Our Take
FOX 5 Atlanta's segment on Flock Safety cameras helping catch drunk drivers is a tidy local news hook, but it's also a textbook example of how these systems get sold to the public one use case at a time. Drunk driving is a real problem and nobody wants impaired drivers on the road. But notice the pattern: every time Flock's cameras get attached to a sympathetic cause — missing kids, stolen cars, now DUIs — it becomes a little harder to ask the harder question, which is whether a nationwide network logging every plate that passes, whether or not a crime occurred, should exist at all.
That's the trick with 'it helped solve a crime' stories. They're true, and they're also not the whole picture. A camera network that can flag a drunk driver can just as easily be queried for someone's ex, a journalist's source, or anyone a cop with access decides to look up, with little transparency about how often that happens or who's watching the watchers. Atlanta being Flock's home turf makes this local coverage worth extra scrutiny, not less.
If you want to see how far this network already reaches into your own neighborhood, check our camera map, and if you think your city council should be asking more questions before renewing a Flock contract, our take-action page has a place to start.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of FOX 5 Atlanta, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.