Cops Search Flock Cameras for Reasons of 'LMAO,' 'IDK,' and 'Asdfg'
An investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed that police officers frequently input nonsensical or unprofessional reasons into the Flock surveillance search engine. The findings highlight concerns regarding the oversight and accountability of mass surveillance technology.
Why it matters
The misuse of surveillance tools by law enforcement raises significant questions about privacy, civil liberties, and the efficacy of police oversight.
Last summer, a cop with the Lake County, Indiana Sheriff’s Department used Flock’s surveillance search engine to look for a license plate across more than 19,000 cameras in 1,558 cities and towns. The cop’s stated reason for the search, according to a record of Flock’s system, was “LMAO.”
The cop is one of dozens who put gibberish, jokes, or other nonsense into Flock’s “reason” box, highlighting the casualness and lack of care some cops have when searching an incredibly powerful surveillance system. This is on top of the thousands upon thousands of cops who simply wrote something like “investigation,” “test,” or left the box blank as their search “reason,” according to a new analysis by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and shared with 404 Media.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in