Boston dumps Flock, says it shared data nationwide in violation of contract

“An EFF analysis of ALPR search logs from Flock Safety systems shows that officers across the country are spying on drivers for completely nonsensical ‘reasons,’” the EFF wrote. ” Boston’s annual report said the city requires vendors to agree not to share license-plate-reader data and to erase recordings after 30 days unless police request that video be retained for legal or investigative purposes. “The police department has been piloting different versions [of the technology] to better understand where vehicles might be going,” Wu said. City officials need to “know exactly who can access that data, how it will be retained, how long will it be saved for,” she said. “It can really help with safety in a lot of ways, but it has to be used responsibly,” Wu said. ” We contacted Flock today about the Boston city report and will update this article if it provides a response.