Flock Safety’s cameras are automated license plate readers (ALPRs) designed to help police find stolen cars or wanted suspects.
A joint investigation by 404 Media and WIRED, based on data recovered from a physically removed Flock camera, found that its on-device software explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, bicycles, and license plates.
Separately, Washington DC’s police union says the Metropolitan Police Department used Flock data to track officers under Internal Affairs investigation without their knowledge.
Together, these reports illustrate a privacy problem: A network built to record the movements of vehicles can readily be used to follow almost anyone. The latest reporting adds an important technical detail to that debate.
Read more…
Source: MalwareBytes Labs
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