Flock Tried To Partner With Uber To Have 350K Mobile License Plate Readers
One of the most controversial things in the country right now is these new ALPR's - Automated License Plate Readers. The most common brand is Flock, and just like Kleenex, every one of these cameras is reffered to as a "Flock" camera.
The cameras have been popping up all over the country, with over 120 cameras around the Quad Cities, and nearly 130,000 across the country.
What Is An ALPR?
They're called ALPRs: Automated License Plate Readers. The most well-known brand to people is from the company Flock Safety.
How ALPRs Work
ALPRs are AI-powered, capturing and analyzing all passing vehicles, storing details like a car's location, date, and time. The cameras capture details like make, model, color and even identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and bumper stickers.
Nationwide, the cameras collect data from millions of vehicles, explained as a tool to help fight crime. If a vehicle is described to law enforcement, they can put those details into their database.
A description like "It was a white car with a Cubs bumper sticker on the right side of the back window, I saw it around 3:30pm on Wednesday, July 18th" can turn up results that not only show the path the vehicle took, but any previous or future drives past the cameras that the vehicle took.
The use of ALPRs is a fairly new technology being deployed across the country, but it comes with controversy.
There are those who are in favor of the technology, or at least indifferent - and there are those who don't support the idea of themselves being tracked constantly around their hometown, whether they're a criminal or not.
Flock's Attempt To Partner With Uber
Plans were revealed last August, according to 404 Media, of an intended partnership between Flock and an AI-powered dashcam company called Nexar. The presentation, which was intended to be shown to the Georgia Office of the Attorney General, was obtained by a Georgia resident through a public records request.
Flock told 404 the partnership never went through, but the presentation showed they had plans to turn rideshare and delivery drivers into mobile license plate readers.
“Hundreds of Commercial Business and HOA in GA are part of the network,” the Flock presentation stated. “Plus Nexar partnership which includes 350k Uber/Lyft and other delivery service devices.”
If this happens, that means there will suddenly be 350,000 more of these license plate readers on the road, meaning there will be nearly no way to avoid being caught on camera.
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