Organizers across the Austin area are calling on cities to end their contracts with Flock Safety, a company that operates license plate reader programs.
Last month, the city of Austin ended its contract with Flock and San Marcos rejected a proposal from the company to expand its program. Now, advocates in Kyle are calling on the City Council to reject a possible expansion of its license plate reader program and decrease the number of devices used across the city.
“It leads to potentially higher error rates, and I think that's something that has been proven in a number of cases throughout the United States,” said Claudia Zapata, president of the Hays County Young Democrats. “There have been false positives.”
Flock's automatic license plate readers collect photos of passing vehicles and upload them to a central database. From there, the system can detect matches from a list of vehicles sought by local law enforcement.
According to the Kyle Police Department, there are 25 automatic license plate readers and three live-view cameras in Kyle.
Zapata said that's too many for a city of approximately 66,000 people.
“There are such large discrepancies between the population size and the amount of cameras per person in the city of Kyle,” she said. “The majority of residents are completely unaware of how advanced and massive the surveillance infrastructure is in Kyle.”
Kyle Police officials said these devices have helped officers solve crimes in cases of child abduction, bank robberies and shootings.
Law enforcement agencies across the Austin area have also assured residents that the data collected from these cameras is not sold to third parties. But there are still concerns about privacy.
Austin City Council Member Mike Siegel previously said he has evidence that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is "actively collaborating with Flock," and could use the technology in deportation efforts.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Kyle Police said the department understands and acknowledges the concerns around privacy and how this data may be used.
“We assure our community that comprehensive policies, restricted access, and regular audits are in place to govern the appropriate use of these systems,” the statement said.
Advocates plan to speak against the Flock Safety program at the Kyle City Council meeting on Aug. 5.
