BROOKLINE, Mass. — A major real estate company is installing AI-powered license plate readers on the border of Brookline and Boston and giving police access to that data.
The Brookline Select Board is tentatively planning on a vote later this month to decide if the town will sign agreement to access the data from Flock Safety.
The cameras are being installed regardless by Chestnut Hill Realty on private property as a crime deterrent.
They’re set to go up on busy Independence Drive near the Hancock Village shopping plaza and an adjacent apartment complex.
“They want to contribute to the community, and they want to help the police conduct our investigations,” said Brookline Deputy Superintendent Paul Campbell. “Lives have been saved using cameras, and serious violent crimes have been solved with these cameras.”
The Brookline Police Commissioners Advisory Committee signed off 5-0 on the town tapping into the data from Flock Safety.
Police are now crafting a potential policy on how the data would be used before the Select Board votes.
“The technology is not inherently good or bad. It depends on how you use it,” said Deputy Superintendent Campbell. “The community gets to dictate how this technology is used.”
Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the only two New England states without laws regulating the use of license plate recognition systems.
State legislation filed on Beacon Hill earlier this year would limit how long data could be stored and prevent agencies from tracking activity protected by the First Amendment.
Civil rights and privacy advocates, including the ACLU, are sharing concerns about how the data could potentially be used.
They’re worried it could end up in the hands of out-of-state departments and federal authorities.
“Police can use license plate readers to conduct mass surveillance, effectively tracking everywhere people are driving,” said Kade Crockford, Dir. of Tech & Justice Programs with the ACLU of Massachusetts. “It’s not just people suspected of criminal activity, but all of us.”
Chestnut Hill Realty is also giving Boston access to the data
A spokesperson for Flock Safety, which recently opened offices in Boston’s Seaport, issued the following statement to Boston 25 News:
“Each customer that uses Flock technology fully owns and controls 100% of its data. Customers decide if, when, and with whom to share information, and all activity within the system is permanently logged to ensure transparency and oversight. Data is automatically deleted by default after 30 days unless otherwise required by local law or policy,” it said in part. “Flock does not have any contractual relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any Department of Homeland Security agency.”
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