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Residents urge Tompkins County not to renew Flock surveillance contract as legislators promise more review
Summary
Dozens of public commenters told the Tompkins County Legislature on Sept. 16 they oppose renewing the county's Flock camera contract, citing privacy, potential sharing with federal agencies and contract language allowing vendor reuse of data. Legislators agreed to schedule more review and Flock will present at an upcoming meeting.
At least a dozen residents and advocates used the meeting's public-privilege slot to urge the Tompkins County Legislature not to renew the county's contract with Flock, the private company that operates automated license-plate and object-recognition cameras.
Speakers raised a range of concerns about privacy and data handling. "I think this is a violation of my Fourth Amendment rights," a resident said, adding: "This is mass surveillance." Another commenter said public audit logs contain unclear entries and asked, "Who made those searches and why? Is there anyone looking back at the audit log to see if those queries were made with a reasonable explanation?" (comment submitted to the legislature during public comment).
Several speakers alleged that Flock data has been used outside intended purposes. "Flock has participated with ICE and other federal agents," one speaker said, and another said the contract grants the company rights to reuse data to train artificial intelligence models.
Legislators acknowledged the volume of public concern. Veronica Pillar said the county's sanctuary statements and the structure of the surveillance system are inconsistent, adding, "You've convinced me I can't support continuing having the Flock cameras here" in their current arrangement. Multiple members asked staff to bring the vendor and local law enforcement to a forthcoming public safety discussion so questions about access, retention and auditing can be answered.
The legislature did not take a final vote on the Flock contract at the Sept. 16 session. Legislator Shauna Black said the county will host Flock at the October 7 meeting and that public safety committee consideration will continue in late September. The county and sheriff's office were referenced repeatedly during the discussion as partners to provide additional technical briefing.
What happens next: Flock representatives are scheduled to appear at the county's public safety meeting and at the Oct. 7 legislature meeting; legislators asked staff to provide audit logs, contract language and details on which agencies have access to the system before any renewal decision.
