- Stockton has approved a $3.15 investment in Flock drones
- The drones will act as airborne first aiders
- Residents have raised concerns about privacy and surveillance
Surveillance and privacy are major concerns for individuals around the world right now, and municipal leaders in the California city of Stockton are the latest to attract criticism for a controversial drone expansion program that is apparently being undertaken in the interest of public safety.
As reported by Stocktonia, the City Council recently gave the thumbs up to a $3.15 million investment in drones manufactured by Flock, on top of the automatic license readers the company already provides. These drones can act as airborne first responders, giving police eyes on a 911 call situation in as little as 30 seconds.
The selling point is that officers will be better informed when they arrive and that some incidents can be handled remotely. “It’s really going to enhance what we already have in that we get quick deployments, real-time updates to officers on the scene,” police Lt. David Padula said when the deal was approved.
But while city leaders all liked the drone program, there has been massive public opposition to it. Questions surrounding privacy, immigration enforcement and mass surveillance have been raised by residents — not just about how the drones are used, but how the data they collect is stored and shared.
These drones are not widely used in the United States, but there are active programs in some cities in states including Texas, Indiana, and Connecticut. Number plate readers are far more widespread, with more than 100,000 now in use.
Data collection and privacy
“It sends the wrong message,” local activist group The Stockton Community Check-In Booth said in a statement after the council decision. “While our residents continue to struggle under the financial consequences of this administration and economy, Stockton continues to invest in militarization and surveillance.”
“Private organizations can control your data from these Flock cameras, and because they’re privately owned, you can’t even use freedom of information to find out what they have on you,” said Stockton’s Republican congressional candidate John McBride, calling the use of the drones “a total invasion of privacy.”
According to Flock, local agencies remain in control of the data. It says it doesn’t work with ICE and that federal agencies are blocked from discovering or requesting data held by Stockton. Drone flights are logged on a public-facing dashboard, and Stockton police will own 100% of the data they collect.
However, Flock has run into trouble elsewhere: It was previously found to be sharing access with US Customs and Border Protection in Colorado and Illinois, though it says that practice has now been stopped. In Texas, police used a Flock camera network to track the movements of a woman who had had an abortion.
In other areas, the authorities have not been so accommodating towards Flock and its systems. In Mountain View, California, a Flock network of cameras was recently scrapped due to concerns about unauthorized access.
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