Alter rejects Flock but leaves room for another plate-reader vendor
Austin City Council member running for reelection in District 5
“Flock has proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy, For us to utilize LPRs, we would have to find a company that clears a very high bar in terms of civil liberty protections.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Austin American-Statesman report on Central Texas cities ending Flock contracts and where Austin City Council members stand on license-plate readers.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Austin let its Flock pilot expire in 2025, and the Statesman asked council members whether the city should replace the system. Alter said he would support live security camera feeds in parks with known problems but not technology that uses artificial intelligence to analyze people or stores information about their movements indefinitely.
After the quotation
The Statesman reports that Alter was among the council members who said the city could consider narrower surveillance tools even if it does not return to Flock.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether networked license-plate reader systems such as Flock should exist and be used. Alter called Flock completely untrustworthy but said Austin could use license-plate readers from a company that clears a very high bar on civil liberty protections. He rejects this vendor while leaving the technology open under conditions, so Mixed or conditional fits.
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- People and groups discussed
- Flock Safety
Should Flock-style license-plate surveillance networks exist?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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