After an automated license plate recognition technology company changed the terms of use midway through a contract, the city of Mill Valley pulled out over concerns about data privacy and the city’s ability to enforce safeguards.
According to a city statement, cameras have been disabled as of Sept. 9, and a contract has been suspended with Flock Safety, the manufacturer of the cameras. The city said it supports using the technology to solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles and locate missing people, but only with enforceable protections for privacy and civil liberties.
The city said it had previously used the technology with certain safeguards.
“We did not use facial recognition, we reduced data retention to 72 hours for our live feed cameras and seven days for our ALPR cameras, and we conducted regular audits of system access,” the city’s statement said.
“Because the revised terms did not provide the enforceable protections the city requires, we suspended use of the Flock system.”
City of Mill Valley statement
Mill Valley also disabled Flock’s statewide lookup feature after concerns arose and restricted data sharing to select California law enforcement agencies under written agreements. But the city said the company changed its terms of use halfway through the contract.
“Because the revised terms did not provide the enforceable protections the city requires, we suspended use of the Flock system,” the statement said.
The city is working with Marin County and neighboring cities to evaluate alternatives and develop coordinated oversight. Priorities include limiting data access and retention, auditing searches, and establishing enforceable vendor requirements.
Mill Valley plans to present findings and recommendations to the City Council in February. Any proposal to resume the technology would be subject to council consideration and public comment.
Over the past year, many Bay Area cities and counties have been reexamining their contracts with Flock Safety, considering the federal administration’s crackdown on immigrants and the company’s controversial record of sharing ALPR data with federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
