When Justin Cowgur, a city council member in Centerton, Arkansas, was asked two years ago to vote on a contract to install Flock license-plate readers, he found it easy to say yes. The Republican wine seller believed the artificial intelligence-powered cameras — which record passing cars’ plates into a database that officers can search to investigate crime — could help ease the strain on their understaffed police force and keep his bedroom community safe.
But lately, he’s come to regret the deal, saying he no longer trusts the company with the huge amount of data its roadside cameras collect. Earlier this month, after a parade of residents voiced concerns about their privacy and the system’s risk of abuse, he and other members voted unanimously to cancel the contract.
