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Resident urges Mariemont to limit sharing of Flock ALPR data amid security concerns; police to investigate
Summary
At the meeting a resident, Dave Sprocket, urged council to remove Mariemont’s license-plate reader data from the larger Flock network or otherwise restrict access, citing published reports of insecure systems; police said village-side access is believed secure and will look into the reports.
A village resident told council he is concerned about automatic license-plate reader (ALPR) cameras on the Flock network that aggregate vehicle-location data across jurisdictions and said the village should consider restricting or removing its dataset from the shared system.
"These are cameras that have a computer vision algorithm that tracks and logs all traffic going past them," resident Dave Sprocket said. He cited reporting that some systems have been exposed — "one Motorola system was found to have at least 60 cameras connected to the open Internet" — and argued that compiled datasets increase the risk that someone could track a person’s movements.
Lieutenant Pitsley told the meeting he had not personally read reports of breaches but would look into the matter and consult Sergeant Tracy, who manages authentication. "From our end, rest assured that, you know, it's as secure as it can be," Pitsley said, while acknowledging he would follow up with additional review.
Council members and several residents noted legitimate law-enforcement uses of the cameras, such as locating stolen vehicles across jurisdictions, but repeated concerns about who has access and whether two-factor authentication is enforced at the network level. Speaker 1 (mayoral staff) said he will speak with the chief and Lieutenant Pitsley about next steps.
No policy change or formal vote was taken; council directed staff to examine authentication and access controls and to report back to the council.
