Gardner City Council scraps Flock Safety cameras over privacy concerns
The Kansas municipality has cancelled its contract with the automated license plate reader provider, citing data access issues, while the firm moves to shorten its data retention period.
The Gardner City Council in Kansas has voted to immediately deactivate its Flock Safety license plate cameras and cancel the associated contract. The decision, reached on Monday night, stems from growing concerns regarding privacy and the breadth of data access within the automated system. Following the vote, the Gardner Police Department confirmed the discontinuation, with physical cameras covered by Tuesday to prevent further recording.
The city stated that the move reflects an ongoing evaluation of technology and resources, aiming to ensure that tools provide the utmost value to the community and support public safety operations. While the cameras are designed to help law enforcement locate vehicles connected to crimes or missing-person cases, critics argue that such networks create detailed records of residents' movements, including trips to homes, workplaces, and places of worship.
Bradley Steinmetz, a member of the No Flock in Gardner movement, highlighted concerns about how broadly information collected through the system could be accessed. Steinmetz stated that over 1,200 vendors had access to information through the Flock system, though he noted he did not know the identities of all those entities.
In response to the broader scrutiny of automated license plate readers, Flock Safety has announced changes to its data practices. The company will reduce its data retention period from 30 days to seven days and will require a criminal case number for database searches. These adjustments come as the technology faces increased examination over how collected information is accessed and shared.
Gardner City Council member Kelly Johnson clarified that the council's action applies only to cameras controlled by the city. Johnson noted that while Gardner can make decisions about its own cameras and contract, it cannot turn off cameras owned and operated by Johnson County or the State. The council is currently looking into options regarding cameras operated by other jurisdictions in and around Gardner.
The discontinuation in Gardner follows a period where the technology has been both credited and criticised. Recently, police in Blue Springs credited the technology with locating a suspect in an Amber Alert case, underscoring the dual nature of the system as a tool for public safety and a subject of privacy debate.
