Congressional scrutiny of automated license plate readers has ramped up in recent weeks, with criticism mostly aimed at Flock Safety over the large number of law enforcement agencies it contracts with.
asserted
it → automate → agencies
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have introduced the Ban Flock Act, which would bar federal agencies from using or accessing data collected by automated license plate readers, or ALPRs.
asserted
which → introduce → readers
It would also prohibit federal grants from going to state and local governments that use the technology.
asserted
that → prohibit → technology
While the legislation to prohibit ALPRs draws its name from the Atlanta-based company, Flock is not the only player in the ALPR game, with one of its major competitors more closely associated with the flip phones of the early 2000s: Motorola Solutions.
asserted
one → prohibit → 2000s
The backlash against Flock has also created an opening for its competitors as cities reconsider their license plate reader contracts.
asserted
cities → create → contracts
Dozens of communities have deactivated Flock cameras, rejected proposed deals, or canceled contracts amid concerns about privacy, data sharing, and law enforcement misuse.
asserted
Dozens → deactivate → privacy
Flock being in the hot seat has created an opportunity for companies such as Motorola to swoop in.
asserted
companies → create → Motorola
Motorola offers law enforcement a variety of technologies, including ALPRs, software systems, and a national data-sharing system.
asserted
Motorola → offer → ALPRs
Its technology is also available to commercial and enterprise customers, including parking enforcement operations, while license plate information collected by repossession vehicles feeds a separate commercial database.
asserted
information → include → database
Jay Stanley, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while Flock is a giant in the ALPR space, particularly in its use of artificial intelligence, Motorola has its own privacy risks.
asserted
Motorola → say → risks
“Flock is dominant in many ways,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ways
“I think Flock is pushing AI the hardest, which is a serious matter.
asserted
which → think → AI
But Motorola has big problems of its own.
asserted
Motorola → have → own
It seems to be very large in terms of its plate reads.”
asserted
It → seem → reads
From Razr phones to public safety technology
Motorola’s path from cellphones to police surveillance is not as direct as the familiar name might suggest.
uncertain
name → suggest → surveillance
Motorola Inc., the company behind the iconic Razr flip phone, split into two independent companies in 2011.
asserted
Inc. → split → 2011
Motorola Mobility took over the consumer cellphone business, while Motorola Solutions inherited the company’s commercial and government operations.
asserted
Solutions → take → operations
At the time of the division, Motorola Solutions was already focused on public safety communications.
asserted
Solutions → focus → communications
The company had decades of experience selling radio communications equipment to government agencies and increasingly expanded its business into software, video security, and other public safety technology.
asserted
company → have → software
Behind the split was CEO Greg Brown, who previously said he had always seen public safety as being the “jewel” of the franchise.
asserted
he → say → franchise
With Brown at the helm, the company grew through organic and inorganic investment.
asserted
company → grow → investment
Those inorganic investments, meaning the expansion came from external capital, were the acquisitions of other companies that were already in the public sphere.
asserted
that → mean → sphere
By 2017, Motorola had invested $1.7 billion to take over or support companies that make body cameras, facial recognition tools, and other technologies.
asserted
that → invest → cameras
In doing so, Motorola consolidated a corner of the surveillance technology market.
asserted
Motorola → do → market
A closer look at Motorola’s ALPRs
License plate readers became a significant part of Motorola’s portfolio in 2019, two years after Flock was founded.
asserted
Flock → become → 2019
The company paid $445 million to acquire VaaS International Holdings, a vehicle-location data and image analytics company whose subsidiaries included Vigilant Solutions for law enforcement and Digital Recognition Network for commercial customers.
asserted
subsidiaries → pay → customers
Motorola’s acquisition of VaaS brought fixed and mobile license plate cameras into Motorola’s portfolio, but it also gave the company something possibly more valuable: access to an established system for searching and sharing vehicle-location information.
At the time, Brown said the acquisition would expand the company’s command center software with what he described as the “largest shareable database of vehicle location information.”
uncertain
he → bring → information
Today, Motorola sells its license plate reader program as the “most comprehensive license plate recognition system available.”
asserted
Motorola → sell → system
Motorola’s ALPRs can be affixed to posts, as Flock’s are commonly seen, or mounted to police vehicles.
asserted
Flock → affix → vehicles
Additionally, Motorola’s ALPRs capture the “make, model, color, accessories and even unique vehicle features like damage or bumper stickers” on vehicles that pass by, which is then put into a database that makes data searchable.
asserted
data → capture → database
While Motorola Solutions is now a separate entity from the cellphone maker, Stanley said it’s unclear how that name association can affect people’s perception of the ALPR company.
uncertain
association → say → company
“It’s still a brand name that’s familiar to a lot of consumers because they sold consumer-facing goods, and I don’t know what extent that has,” Stanley said.
asserted
Stanley → ’ → extent
“I don’t know if that’s had any effect in insulating them from public suspicion.
asserted
that → know → suspicion
Most of the police law enforcement [contracts are] under the brand name Vigilant as well … but for whatever reason, they haven’t become the target in the way that Flock has, but they deserve to be.”
asserted
they → become → way
How Motorola’s data-sharing system works
According to Motorola, law enforcement agencies can access information collected by enterprise customers when those customers choose to share it, as well as a separate commercial database containing license plate detections collected by repossession vehicles.
uncertain
customers → work → vehicles
The flow of information is asymmetric, however, as Motorola says enterprise customers can elect to share their information with law enforcement but cannot access police information.
asserted
customers → say → information
The company says it physically separates law enforcement and enterprise data to prevent police data from passing into its enterprise systems.
asserted
it → say → systems
Stanley said data sharing between commercial and law-enforcement customers raises questions about how that data is being used by police.
asserted
data → say → police
Compared to Flock, Stanley said civilian and law enforcement data crossover “goes beyond anything that Flock is involved in.”
asserted
Flock → compare → that
“I think that that data is being used to make judgments about individual consumers in automobile insurance and other areas, and we don’t know how it’s being used,” he said.
asserted
he → think → insurance
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
