Surveillance technology startup Flock announced a series of new policies and tools on Thursday, claiming they will help curb abuse of its automated license plate camera reader systems and help keep its law enforcement customers accountable.
Flock is now recommending police departments retain data for seven days rather than the previous 30 days. Along with this change, the company introduced what it calls “Evidence Mode,” which can be turned on when customers need to retain data for longer periods in “exceptional cases” and requires a specific case number. Customers will also now be able to set limits on the data they share with other customers based on the type of offense that’s under investigated.
The company also highlighted a tool called “Audit Assistance” as one of the key changes. Flock launched the tool in April. Since then, Flock said “more than one-third” of its customers have turned it on, and the startup is now requiring all customers to enable it by the end of the year.
Flock said Audit Assistance “detects abnormal activity and flags it for Administrator review,” according to a blog posted released Thursday. If that happens, the tool can automatically lock out users who have been flagged until an administrator intervenes. According to Flock, the tool has already helped customers spot and stop abuse.
