Flock cameras a concern for Logan Township residents
Group says five Flock devices installed in area near campus
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With the recent installment of Flock cameras in the nation, two residents aired their concerns during Thursday's Logan Township supervisors meeting over the surveillance devices being installed in the area.
According to flocksafety.com, Flock LPR cameras capture license plates, vehicle characteristics and the time and date a vehicle passed a camera.
Flock is a private company that uses artificial intelligence to not only track license plates but also distinguishing driver characteristics such as hair color, facial hair and appearance, among other details, according to resident Caleb McCoy.
"All these kinds of weird things that they keep track of are far and above what I think would be a law enforcement function for something like a license plate reader," he said during the meeting's public comment.
He said the company then sells this information, claiming that there is no expectation of privacy when looking at a road, "and that we don't have any right to expect anything more from them than for them to make money off that information."
"The people in this area are very upset, as they are learning that this is something that we have already had installed in multiple areas around Logan Township and Altoona," McCoy said.
Logan Township Supervisors Chairman James Patterson asked solicitor Dan Stants if he knew about Flock cameras.
"Very little, just that they exist," Stants said.
Patterson then asked the board who installs the cameras, which no one knew.
Indivisible Blair County President Carol Taylor said five Flock cameras are installed in the area.
She said most of the cameras are located around the Penn State Altoona campus, including one on Broadway Street and one on Juniata Gap Road.
There is one in the Lowe's parking lot and one in the Martin's parking lot on Chestnut Avenue.
Concerning the camera outside Martin's, Taylor asked the store manager, but they didn't know about the camera being in the lot. Taylor said a separate landlord owns the parking lot.
"The landlord must have given permission, but Martin's did not," Taylor said.
Patterson asked Stants about a statewide ordinance that would prevent business owners from installing Flock cameras in municipalities.
"I'm not aware of one; I could look for one, but if it's on private property, I don't know that there'd be any ordinance that could do anything about it, if they're passively gathering information," Stants said.
Patterson said these cameras can be beneficial when identifying if someone's car insurance is due, or their warranty is out, but they seem invasive.
"A lot of questions," he said. "And they seem to have popped up."