A Eugene-based credit union says it will no longer use Flock Safety license plate reader cameras.
Community members in Eugene and Springfield have raised concerns for months about privacy, and potential federal abuse of the data the cameras collect.
Oregon Community Credit Union confirmed to KLCC that it had stopped its use of license plate readers. The credit union has 15 branches–all in Oregon–and 280,000 members. In a statement, OCCU said it was in the process of disabling and removing the cameras.
“Our intent with using these cameras was solely to help prevent crimes like robbery and fraud and to keep our members and employees safe,” the statement read. “We take that responsibility very seriously, but we also understand that this technology has raised a lot of questions and concerns.”
The credit union’s decision was first reported by KVAL.
Privacy concerns
Flock has a nationwide network and its cameras create searchable images of license plates or vehicle descriptions. Eugene, Springfield and Lane County all have contracts with Flock, but none have cameras in use right now.
Eugene asked the company to turn off their cameras in October. Springfield hasn’t turned them on yet, and the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said at the end of October it had contracted, but not installed the cameras.
According to its website, Flock has services tailored to banks and retail, partnering with more than 1,000 businesses. This summer, the company also launched a new service – a nationwide “business network” – to help private Flock customers coordinate and identify suspected thieves that may be hitting multiple locations.
Community members have frequently used public comment periods at public meetings to ask Lane County, Springfield and Eugene’s elected leaders to remove the cameras.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden initially made an agreement with Flock to exclude Oregon data from any national searches including abortion or immigration, but later changed course, saying he didn’t believe the technology can be safely used in Oregon.
Flock strongly disagreed with Wyden’s conclusions, saying it was constantly improving its technology and pointing to the many crimes its cameras had helped solve.
Wyden and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill, are now calling on the FCC to investigate Flock, saying the company’s policies expose Americans’ data to bad actors including foreign spies.
Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner has praised the technology, saying it’s helped solve dozens of felonies and helped the department get ahead of a burglary ring targeting Asian American business owners.
KLCC contacted Eugene and Springfield Police as well as the Lane County Sheriff’s Office to request information about the current status of their Flock cameras, and the outcome of any policy work that would limit outside access or guide their use.
Lane County Sheriff Spokesperson Tim Wallace said in an email the county did not have any cameras installed.
"We are following developments with the Springfield & Eugene systems to determine future use of Flock, as well as policies," Wallace wrote.
Last month the Eugene Police Commission voted to recommend that access to Eugene's data, if or when the cameras are turned back on, be limited to Lane County agencies , and that they system can't be used to monitor First Amendment activity.
This story will be updated with Eugene and Springfield's response.
