Hundreds urge Eugene council to halt Flock surveillance contract; work session set

Dozens of residents urged the Eugene City Council on Monday to suspend the city's use of the Flock National Surveillance Network and cancel the contract that allows Flock to collect and store license-plate and camera data across Eugene.

Speakers at the council's public-comment period raised cybersecurity flaws, examples of misuse in other jurisdictions, frequent internal searches of the system and the effect broad, continuous collection could have on immigrants, people seeking reproductive or gender-affirming care, unhoused residents and people with disabilities.

The concerns were threaded through a long public-comment period in which multiple speakers said the only reliable way to protect people from harm is to stop collecting the data. "The only way to protect this information is to not collect it in the first place," said Rick Osgood, a privacy advocate and security professional.

Why it matters: Residents who testified said Flock's data is a permanent, searchable record of movement that can be used retroactively. Commenters cited reported examples — including law-enforcement and federal misuse in other states — and said local assurances by the vendor are insufficient to prevent abuse. Multiple speakers asked the council to pause the system immediately until the scheduled work session.

What speakers said and showed

- Rick Osgood, identifying himself as a "privacy advocate and security professional," described security flaws he said he observed in Flock hardware and warned that a breach could reveal people's movements. "The only way to protect this information is to not collect it in the first place," he said.

- Ken Willis, a parent of an autistic child, described changes to his family's behavior after camera installation: "...my wife doesn't wanna take her out on a walk anymore because we're afraid that the police are gonna tag us because she's walking in a strange way..."

- Kai (no last name provided) pressed the council with system-usage questions drawn from audit logs: "When I checked EPD a couple weeks ago, it was 1,300. Today, it's down to 900. Why is the per capita search volume so high?" He also said the city contract listed 57 cameras while the transparency portal listed 67.

- Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, a licensed psychologist, asked the council to "cancel the contract with the Flock National Surveillance Network as soon as possible and ban ALPR systems from the city of Eugene."

- Bailey Gilmore, the meeting's final speaker, urged the council to "stop the data collection with flock immediately. This is something that needs to be shut down right away."

Context and council response

Council members repeatedly acknowledged the volume of comment and noted a work session on Flock set for Oct. 8. Councilor Matt Keating said he looked forward to the Oct. 8 session and to reviewing "off-ramps" for the contract. Council did not take formal action on Flock during the Sept. 22 meeting.

Speakers and advocates asked for several specific steps before or during the work session: an immediate pause of data collection, release of audit logs, independent security and privacy review, limits on who can query the system, and an outright cancellation of the contract with Flock.

What the public asserted about use and oversight

Commenters pointed to examples from other states in which law-enforcement accounts allegedly were used by other agencies, or where individuals obtained data to stalk or prosecute people for out-of-state actions. Several speakers said the vendor's assurances do not prevent misuse if other agencies or individuals with access circumvent stated restrictions.

Next steps

The council has scheduled a Flock work session for Oct. 8, which council members and many public speakers identified as the next formal opportunity for detailed briefings, questions and potential policy or contract changes. Multiple residents urged the council to pause data collection until that session.

Ending note

Public comment on Sept. 22 made clear that Flock is a high-salience local issue: speakers called for immediate pause or cancellation, independent audits, and stronger local controls to limit searches and data retention. The council did not adopt any new restrictions or take a vote on Flock at the Sept. 22 meeting.