A Kettering University student has filed a lawsuit against Genesee County over public records related to the county’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras.
The student, Josh Tewolde, is being represented by attorneys from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Midland-based nonprofit thinktank that advocates for small government, free markets, lower taxes, school choice, and other issues.
According to a Mackinac Center news release, Tewolde filed Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests with Genesee County seeking information that included a map of Flock camera locations in the county, audit logs showing who accessed data collected by the cameras, as well as any information stored by the cameras about Tewolde’s vehicle. In their news release, the Mackinac Center noted that some documents were provided, but the camera locations, audit logs, and vehicle scan information were withheld, citing Flock’s ownership of that information.
Tewolde noted in the news release that he filed the FOIA request and subsequent lawsuit in an effort to better understand how surveillance technology and data is used in the community. His legal representation contends that Genesee County does own that information and it is subject to FOIA.
“This case is about a fundamental principle: When government uses surveillance technology, the public has a right to audit how it is being used,” said Steve Delie, senior attorney at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, in the Center’s news release. “Genesee County can’t outsource transparency to a private vendor. If the county owns the data, FOIA applies — period.”
The full text of the lawsuit is available online. Tewolde also was interviewed in a video the Mackinac Center shared on its social media.
“I first noticed Flock cameras around town about two years ago as I was starting my research project into these cameras,” Tewolde said in the video. “At first I was neutral or maybe even positive (about them). I thought they were a cool thing, a cool technology, but then I started learning more about them, and about how powerful they can be when you have a whole network of cameras. I really started becoming more concerned and wanted to learn more about what guardrails there were, if any, to control the use of these cameras.”
Use of Flock cameras, which are Artificial Intelligence-powered, has been extremely controversial with critics pointing to a wide range of issues with the technology including a lack of transparency surrounding how data is stored and shared across government and law enforcement channels, who can access that data, questionable effectiveness in crime prevention, increases in racial profiling, surveillance of protestors, and more. 404 Media reported last year that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have tapped into Flock data to assist in targeting people, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations have pointed out that the large clusters of the approximately 80,000 cameras deployed nationally are in urban areas. The company was recently forced to announce security changes after several cases of law enforcement officers accessing the data and using it to stalk people.
Opposition to their use has been bipartisan, too – the Mackinac Center, for example, has historically focused on conservative issues while organizations like the ACLU, typically known for progressive stances, have also been critics of the use of surveillance technology and data collection by private companies.
Locally, last year, the Flint Alliance for Immigrant Rights (FAIR) and People Powered Flint organized opposition to Genesee County’s contract with Flock. The groups held protests outside the county offices while the contract renewal and expansion was being discussed. Dozens of people spoke out at Board of Commissioners meetings over the course of several months in opposition to the contract and use, with many calling on Commissioners to end the contract.
Instead, by 5-4 votes, the County Commission approved a renewal of a grant funding existing Flock cameras and another to add 20 more cameras into the County. Commissioners Gary Goetzinger, Shaun Shumaker, Brian Flewelling, and Martin Cousineau were the four who voted against both. They amended their motions to require that federal agencies accessing the data secure a warrant before doing so. Video of the meeting and the discussion among commissioners is online.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Genesee County said, “Genesee County is aware of the complaint. As a matter of practice, the County does not comment on the specifics of a pending litigation. The County will respond to the complaint through the appropriate legal process.”
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