Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, also known as former WWE wrestler “Kane,” issued a statement on Monday against the use of Flock Safety cameras and similar devices.
“I am urging our commission to prohibit the use of Flock cameras and similar devices in our county.
For those of you who don’t know, these cameras, technically called Automated License Plate Readers, are motion activated and take a picture of every vehicle which passes by,” Jacobs said.
“While License Plate Readers have been around for a while, because of AI and vastly increased networking and data retention capacities, these Flock cameras have capabilities not even imagined in the past. Older cameras only took a photo of your license plate, which was then retained for a short time. Flock cameras take a photo of your plate, but also use AI to catalogue distinguishing features of your vehicle: make, color, model, even bumper stickers,” Jacobs continued.
“That data is stored in a searchable database for sometimes up to a month or more, depending on the policies of that particular agency. When these cameras are deployed in large numbers, they create a network that can be used to track your movements. Currently, there is no federal regulatory framework governing these devices in place, and the Tennessee laws regulating them were written over a decade ago,” Jacobs said.
“My fear is that we may be inadvertently creating a warrantless mass surveillance system and undermining the privacy and liberty of our people. So I urge the Tennessee General Assembly and the United States Congress to look at this issue and take necessary action to safeguard our privacy and civil liberties as these new technologies continue to emerge,” he concluded.
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Multiple Congress members have said they would introduce legislation to restrict the funding of Flock Safety cameras, including Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).
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[H/T 100PercentFedUp]
