Boston terminated its contract with police surveillance company Flock after discovering the company enabled nationwide data lookups despite contractual restrictions. The city says Flock violated terms that required the feature to remain disabled.
Boston's decision to end its relationship with Flock Analytics marks a significant enforcement action against the automated license plate reader company. According to the city, Flock activated a "nationwide lookup" capability that allowed law enforcement to search license plate data across multiple jurisdictions, directly contradicting contractual obligations.
The violation represents a breach of data governance terms meant to limit how widely collected surveillance information could be distributed. Boston had established specific restrictions on Flock's data access, which the company circumvented without authorization.
Flock operates license plate recognition technology used by police departments across the United States. The company's systems capture and store images and data from passing vehicles. This incident highlights ongoing tensions between surveillance technology providers and municipalities seeking to control how citizen data is used and shared.
The termination underscores growing scrutiny of automatic license plate reader programs and the contractual safeguards cities attempt to impose on their deployment.
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