TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The state is taking major action in the fight over Flock cameras.
The license plate reader cameras have been popping up all over the country and tracking drivers on the road.
Now the Florida Department of Transportation is calling for them and other cameras that read license plates to be taken down.
There are hundreds of these cameras in South Florida, but the FDOR order would only apply to the rights-of-way for state highways, which includes interstates.
According to the FDOT memo, if the cameras aren’t removed within thirty days, then the state will take them down.
The department says it will also deny any other permits for cameras in the future.
The state order comes amid growing concern about the misuse of automated license plate readers, or LPRs.
“What we don’t want in in the state of Florida is to have a digital AI surveillance state where everything we’re doing is being tracked at all times,” DeSantis said. “And do I think that LPRs can be useful? Well, the state uses it for like toll by plate, but that’s a different situation than when you’re using it for criminal penalties.
“So there’s obviously times when I think it’s probably been useful, but where is this data going? How much data is the company’s doing? They claim that the companies aren’t going to misuse it, but no one’s watching that. And I know you can make some money selling cameras, but you really can make a lot of money if you can sell people’s data.”
The governor said that he’s not only concerned about private companies misusing the cameras, he also spoke about a Florida sheriff’s deputy who was arrested for using flock camera data to track an ex-girlfriend.
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