Springfield may take a second look at its contract with a private company that provides AI-license plate readers after several community members raised privacy concerns.
Springfield has a contract for 25 cameras from Flock Safety. The cameras are a part of a nationwide database that includes homeowners associations, private businesses and local governments.
Ky Fireside, a Springfield resident and a member of anti-surveillance group Eyes off Eugene, said Springfield’s planned camera locations will record their own movements, and community members in crisis.
“I cannot go home, or leave home without being on camera,” Fireside told the city council. “There are several more going up at Gateway, which means you will be filmed if you go to Riverbend Hospital.”
They noted a clinic that offers gender-affirming care is also located near a planned camera location.
Fireside and others who testified during Tuesday’s meeting also raised concerns about investigations that found immigration officials had accessed Flock’s network, including in states that have sanctuary laws banning state resources being used for immigration enforcement.
Several city council members said they were also concerned about unintentional surveillance, especially tracking people seeking medical care, and asked the city council to plan a presentation and discussion on their Flock contract.
Eugene has 57 Flock cameras and its city council will return from summer break Monday, Sept. 8. Eugene leaders have previously discussed privacy concerns around Flock cameras in committee, but the city council has not yet formally taken up the issue.
The Eugene Police Department, which has been using Flock to track vehicles for months, have said they used the cameras to locate homicide and domestic violence suspects, as well as vehicles reported stolen. Both Eugene and Springfield used a state retail theft grant to pay for the cameras.
