In brief: The controversy surrounding Flock cameras primarily centers on privacy and fears of a surveillance state. However, the cloud-based license-plate-reading system's accuracy and effectiveness have also drawn scrutiny. In one particularly egregious case, an internal review uncovered more than 1,000 false positives over two years.
Police in Roseville, California, found that, out of 1,427 incidents in which the town's AI-powered license-plate cameras flagged a vehicle as stolen or used in a felony, the cameras misread the plate in 71% of cases.
Flock, the startup that supplies the cameras to Roseville and approximately 6,000 other communities across the US, attributed the errors to Roseville's atypical camera setup, but as Business Insider reports, the results could expose flaws in an already controversial technology.
Flock's cameras, typically placed on traffic light poles and roadsides, photograph passing vehicles and analyze their characteristics, including license plates, color, make, model, and other details via machine learning. Authorities can search the company's cloud database for vehicles using descriptions to track their movements, which they say has helped solve crimes and find missing persons.
The AI cameras process approximately 20 billion vehicle scans per month and have raised fierce debate across the US. Communities across the country have deactivated their cameras since last year out of concerns about state surveillance, but some towns, including Roseville, are also dealing with the system's blind spots.
There, a police supervisor joked about memorizing one driver's license plate because Flock's cameras misread it at least six times. In each case, the cameras mistook a 9 on his license plate for an 8. This is more likely to happen if a camera takes a blurry image or if the license plate is obscured by a tree or license plate frame.
Ironically, while Flock claims that the errors stem from how Roseville deployed the cameras, the suburb's unique implementation likely also prevented matters from worsening.
To avoid recording drivers' faces, Roseville configured the cameras to only capture vehicles from behind, which Flock says makes them less accurate. However, none of the false positives led to traffic stops, much less arrests, because Roseville officers must verify each report, which is not required in California.
Meanwhile, the LAPD recently let its contract with Flock expire after an internal audit found that 161 innocent people were pulled over in a two-month span. Outdated or inaccurate data from other jurisdictions was cited as a primary cause.
Critics have also pointed out that, despite license-plate reading being their primary function, the AI cameras can also analyze and track people on foot. Police have searched the database for people based on extremely vague descriptions, and numerous officers have been caught using the system to stalk ex-partners.