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Cops Searched Thousands of Flock Cameras for Reasons of 'LMAO,' 'IDK,' 'Hehe,' And 'Asdfg'
Police officers are using Flock's powerful surveillance search engine, which accesses over 19,000 cameras, with alarming casualness and a lack of accountability. An analysis by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveals numerous instances of officers inputting gibberish, jokes, or other nonsense like "LMAO" or "idiot" as search reasons. Many also provide vague reasons such as "investigation" or leave the field blank, indicating a widespread disregard for proper protocol. These audit logs, which are publicly obtainable, show a pattern of misuse, including searching for undocumented immigrants, individuals who had abortions, and protesters. Government surveillance centers have even advised officers to be "as vague as permissible" in their search justifications. Critics argue that requiring officers to justify such pervasive surveillance with "haha" or other frivolous reasons would never be approved by a city council. The EFF contends that existing laws and courts have not adapted to this new technology, leading to deficient auditing and a culture of abuse. They highlight that warrant-less databases foster a system where mass surveillance is treated as a personal search engine, tracking citizens for minor issues or personal whims. While Flock Safety has updated its system to require selecting from a dropdown list of crimes, this change only makes it easier to obscure improper searches without true accountability. The EFF insists that mass surveillance is incompatible with a free society and urges courts and legislatures to implement strict restrictions, including data deletion deadlines and a warrant requirement. Police should be required to demonstrate probable cause to a judge for tracking a person's movements, rather than bypassing constitutional safeguards with arbitrary searches.