BEHIND THE SCREEN: IT'S NOT JUST A CAMERA

Understanding the data behind Cookeville’s Flock cameras

I am not anti-technology, far from it. I use it every day. I have worked in and around technology in various forms for my entire career. I believe it can make our communities safer and better informed. But I also believe we should be careful about the systems we build and the information we collect, and make sure technology does not come at the expense of our rights.

That is why I was ultimately disappointed with the Cookeville City Council’s decision Thursday night to approve a two-year contract with Flock.

I was at the meeting as a photographer and videographer, listening as residents shared concerns about privacy. They and I share an aversion to the amount of information these systems collect, not only about those considered targets of interest, but also about those who have done nothing to warrant being surveilled in the first place.

I don’t expect the council to agree with everyone, but I believe it should have delayed the vote at a bare minimum. There were too many important questions to move ahead without taking more time and too many voices that seemed to fall on deaf ears. The consensus I heard Thursday was one of complete opposition to the contract. Of the 18 individuals who made Flock-related comments, only one offered substantial support for the technology.

I’m all for providing police officers with what they need to keep our community safe. If technology can help find a missing person or identify a vehicle connected to a serious crime, that is a good thing, but not if it jeopardizes the civil liberties of citizens yesterday, today or down the line.

Flock is not just a camera taking a picture of a license plate. The camera takes multiple high-speed photographs. Artificial intelligence selects an image and processes details that can include the plate number, time, location, direction of travel, make, model, color, damage, alterations, bumper stickers and roof racks.

The system then creates what Flock calls a “vehicle fingerprint.” Authorized users can search the records by license plate, vehicle description, location or geographic area. That is not a simple photograph. That is a registry of who you are and what you believe.

A person standing on the side of the road might see my vehicle pass. They will probably forget about it a few minutes later. A Flock system can record the vehicle, attach a time and location, identify its characteristics and preserve that information so it can be searched later.

One record may not tell someone much. But when you combine records from several cameras, you can begin to build a timeline. Add cameras from other communities or information shared between agencies, and the system becomes even more powerful.

A single piece of information may seem harmless. Connect enough pieces, and they tell a much larger story. That is how data works.

As with everything, technology does not and will not stay stagnant. Systems receive updates. New tools are added. Information collected for one purpose can later be analyzed in ways that were never discussed when the system was approved. To consider that what we have now will stay the same forever would be ignorant and short-sighted.

I have felt for much of my life that the United States has been crawling toward becoming a surveillance state. I have also believed we could mitigate that by exercising the right to vote and supporting policies that protect individual liberties. The mass adoption of Flock cameras feels like a massive leap in the other direction.

Supporting technology or law enforcement does not mean we should stop asking questions or leave things unsaid. When a system collects information about people who are not suspected of doing anything wrong and points law enforcement toward false positives, that doesn’t lead to safety. It opens the door to harm.

I hope Cookeville’s leaders will continue listening to the residents who raised concerns Thursday night. More importantly, I hope they will remember that once we build this kind of system, getting back the privacy we surrendered may not be easy.