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Residents and advocates urge Richmond to end Flock Safety contract, citing privacy and equity concerns
Summary
Dozens of residents and civil-rights advocates told the Richmond City Council on Feb. 23 that automated license plate readers from Flock Safety threaten privacy, have been accessed by federal agencies and disproportionately target Black and low-income neighborhoods, and urged the council and mayor to end the contract.
Dozens of Richmond residents urged the City Council on Feb. 23 to cancel the city’s contract with Flock Safety, a private vendor that supplies automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), saying the technology harms privacy and is deployed unevenly across the city.
The appeals came during the public-comment portion of the council meeting, where speakers including Jing Lei, Steven Keener and Kalia Harris described documented and alleged problems with ALPR networks and with how Flock shares and secures data. ‘‘Flock is a private company … there’s little oversight and accountability,’’ Jing Lei, a 1st District resident, told the council. ‘‘How do we keep us safe when we cannot guarantee data security and privacy?’’
Why it matters: Commenters argued the costs and civil‑liberties risks of…
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