Ten university campuses spanning seven states have formally terminated their agreements with Flock Safety since April, while others have enacted severe restrictions on outside network queries. At UNC Charlotte, officials limited national data access after discoveries that outside police departments conducted hundreds of thousands of searches on campus feeds. Even as vendor contracts are cancelled, some institutions are simply turning to alternative monitoring companies to maintain automated vehicle tracking.
Key points
Student-led privacy demonstrations have successfully pushed multiple major universities t…: Student-led privacy demonstrations have successfully pushed multiple major universities to dismantle their existing vehicle surveillance infrastructure.
Concerns regarding outside law enforcement accessing student location data have prompted…: Concerns regarding outside law enforcement accessing student location data have prompted remaining partner schools to restrict national database sharing.
Terminating relationships with single vendors may not end campus surveillance as universi…: Terminating relationships with single vendors may not end campus surveillance as universities continue seeking alternative license plate tracking providers.
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Angela Nguyen, a senior at Stanford University, has been on a mission to make sure her school doesn’t use automated license plate readers, like those made by Flock Safety, for mass surveillance. The 21-year-old computer science major helped collect hundreds of signatures earlier this year from students, faculty, alumni and residents to demand that Stanford drop its current Flock contract and codify safeguards for similar tech tools the school may use in the future. The fear, Nguyen says, is that these cameras, which show where a vehicle was at a certain point in time, can be exploited to victimize vulnerable people.
Stanford cut ties with Flock this summer, and it’s not alone. The privacy reckoning over the company’s surveillance cameras is gaining momentum at schools nationwide. Since April, at least ten university campuses across seven states, have scrapped contracts with Flock. That includes Cornell University, Penn State University, Elgin Community College, Emory University, Binghamton University, Kent State University and the University of Wisconsin’s Madison, Milwaukee and Oshkosh branches. Last week, the University of Buffalo announced an indefinite pause on its…
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