One of Oregon’s two U.S. Senators says he’s concerned about nationwide AI-license plate reader company Flock Safety’s presence in the state.
Sen. Ron Wyden previously worked with Flock to limit access to Oregon’s data, specifically removing Oregon from searches that mentioned abortion or immigration. In a letter released Thursday, he said the safeguards weren’t enough and the company had demonstrated it was unable, and unwilling to keep federal immigration authorities out of the system.
He cited examples that media organizations and audits have uncovered in other states of federal agents using passwords belonging to local police officers to access their account, local police searching on behalf of immigration enforcement, and a partnership the company previously had with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The cameras, are apart of a nationwide network owned by private company Flock Safety, use AI to search based on plates or a vehicle's color, make and bumper stickers. That data is stored for 30 days.
Wyden, a Democrat, said he supported communities that are reviewing their police departments contract with the company.
“I commend and support this reexamination,” Wyden wrote. “In my view, local elected officials can best protect their constituents from the inevitable abuses of Flock cameras by removing Flock from their communities.”
Eugene voted to pause their use of Flock cameras last week, and the city manager said she had complied with that request during Monday’s city council meeting.
Springfield has a contract with Flock as well, but said it wouldn’t turn them on until a community conversation takes place.
A local group that formed to oppose the cameras in both communities, has previously said they feared the Trump administration could use the system to persecute trans people, activists, or other vulnerable groups. They also raised concerns about Wyden’s previous agreement with Flock, saying the extra security measures were easy to get around.
Wyden agreed with that concern in his letter to the company, saying his staff had found around 14% searches in Flock’s system used the generic “investigation” justification and could actually have been for immigrants or people who have had abortions.
Dan Haley, Chief Legal Officer of Flock, responded to Wyden's letter Thursday, saying he was disappointed, and disagreed with Wyden's conclusion that abuse was inevitable.
"We work to constantly improve and enhance not only the efficacy of our products, but also the compliance, transparency, and public accountability features that protect civil liberties," Haley wrote. "We appreciate the inquiries and challenges posed by your office and other skeptical observers of our efforts; they help to hone our thinking, and to make our compliance efforts stronger."
In his letter to Wyden, Haley also wrote that the efforts the company has made to increase transparency and access it had granted to the public, and Wyden's team, was being used against them. He also argued that "credibly alleged abuses" across the 6,000 communities that use the devices have been so few that they were statistically negligible.
