A controversial company that sells license plate readers has developed a new surveillance tool that pulls together disparate datasets and connects them to drivers’ car information. The tool, which is being marketed to cops, even uses information culled from data breaches and hacked data, a new report claims.
404 Media reports that Flock—whose invasive, car-tracking technology has previously been the subject of a lawsuit—is in the final stages of developing a tool called “Nova.” On its website, Flock says that Nova can connect “people, vehicles, and locations” and that it helps “solve crime and prevent the next one faster.” Flock also promises that Nova will bring “data together under one simple, predictable platform.” According to 404, Nova allows law enforcement to swiftly pull together info on a driver from a variety of different sources, including public records, “commercially available data” from data brokers, and law enforcement databases. It also utilizes information from data breaches.
Audio from a leaked company meeting reveals that such breaches include a hacked parking meter app, ParkMobile, 404 writes. Accessing data from breaches like this allows license plate numbers to be tied to other data that was shared with the app, including contact information like phone numbers and email addresses, and sometimes mailing addresses.
Gizmodo reached out to Flock for more information. In a statement shared with 404 Media, the company described Nova as a “public safety data platform that helps investigators analyze and connect data they already have access to, surfacing insights to uncover leads and close cases faster.” It further stated that the software powering the tool is “completely customizable” and that “customers choose what data inputs they want in Nova.” In other words, Flock is putting the responsibility on its customers to use its tool responsibly.
Flock also implied that all of the data centralized by its software suite was already available to cops via other means. “While officers may have access to similar information through other means, centralizing it within Nova adds a crucial layer of transparency and accountability, so our democratically elected governing bodies can ensure it is used in accordance with the law,” the statement added.
While Flock has publicly expressed confidence in its new product, 404’s reporting shows that the company’s own employees are nervous and conflicted about Nova’s use of stolen data. Citing internal Slack messages, 404 quotes one staffer who apparently said the following: “I was pretty horrified to hear we use stolen data in our system. In addition to being attained illegally, it seems like that could create really perverse incentives for more data to be leaked and stolen,” they wrote. “What if data was stolen from Flock? Should that then become standard data in everyone else’s system?”
Flock’s license plate reading technology has stirred ongoing concern for privacy and civil liberties advocates, who worry that such tools could be used by draconian and authoritarian regimes for mass surveillance. However, Flock shows no signs of slowing down in its ever-expanding portfolio of law enforcement technologies. The company recently announced an expansion into drone technology, with the acquisition of Aerodome, which it has described as a “first responder” remote piloting software that can be used in emergency situations.
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