New developments in debate over automated license plate reader cameras in Idaho
The short version: Idaho Falls tightened its Flock contract to block data from feeding Flock's product development, and Twin Falls may follow — a small but telling sign cities are pushing back on ALPR data use.
Our Take
Credit to KTVB for tracking a detail that often gets buried in these Flock contracts: the fine print about whether your driving data can be used to train and improve the company's own products. Idaho Falls apparently decided that letting a private surveillance vendor use license plate scans of its residents as free R&D material was a step too far, and amended its deal accordingly. That's a meaningful pushback, even if the cameras themselves stay up.
This matters because the ALPR conversation usually stops at "does this catch bad guys," when the real fight is over what happens to the data afterward — who can access it, how long it's kept, and now, apparently, whether a company can repurpose your movements to sharpen its algorithms and sell a better product to the next city. Twin Falls now has a chance to ask the same questions before signing on, and other Idaho municipalities should be watching closely.
If you want to see whether your town already has these cameras watching you, check our map, and if you'd rather your city council get ahead of this instead of scrambling to amend a contract after the fact, our take-action page has the tools to push for real limits before the ink dries.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of KTVB, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.