In age of sharing, privacy picture blurs
In age of sharing, privacy picture blurs
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Rare is the moment when our senior U.S. senator is critical of any type of picture taking. A longstanding political joke notes "the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera."
That phrase offers a nod to Schumer's longtime tradition of annually visiting 62 counties across New York state. It also pokes fun at his aggressive strategy with the media in the position that spans more than 27 years.
Like his constituents, and others across the nation, Schumer is not laughing when it comes to Flock Safety, the private company behind a network of license plate cameras. Earlier this month, Schumer pressed the company on its National Lookup Tool that allows agencies to search camera data collected outside their own jurisdictions, and on recent reports of hacked cameras and misuse of license plate readers.
"There’s a private company putting cameras on street corners across the country, and it doesn’t just track your license plate. It logs where you’ve been in a database police across the country can search, and its software can link your car to your phone number and your family," Schumer said. "Americans have no idea who’s looking at that information, or why it has to be collected in the first place. They deserve to know."
His news release this month noted Flock has deployed about 120,000 cameras across 49 states. It grabs license plates and vehicle characteristics, along with the time and location of each image, and local agencies can open their camera networks to other Flock users nationwide.
In Chautauqua County, use of the devices in Fredonia has brought blowback by both the Village Board and Pomfret Town Board. County District Attorney Jason Schmidt defended their presence as a crime-fighting tool last month.
Residents vehemently disagreed, with Town Board member Mike Lee later standing before the Chautauqua County Legislature Public Safety Committee asking “what is happening with Flock themselves with that data (being collected)? ... There’s no way that we locally can control what happens with that data."
There is no disputing the reality that Big Brother is among us. But in this era, when is someone not watching?
Technology on the New York State Thruway closely tracks our travels as motorists while we use the interstate highway. The gantry system not only charges fees to users, it also is able to grab a photo of each license plate.
There's no outcry over this method by the Authority. Is that because we put faith in a public-sector agency?
Door bells on neighbors' houses have cameras that record conversations. What about security cameras that dot the State University of New York at Fredonia?
Visiting a business, it's likely we’re often being watched as customers. It is the same when heading to a major league sporting event.
Millions of individuals, including those who are part of Flock chorus complaints, voluntarily offer social-media giants that include TikTok and Facebook -- with a combined 3 billion users worldwide -- free insight into personal habits, politics, journeys and meals on a daily basis. No one seems overly upset at giving away that information, which is at the fingertips of billion-dollar companies.
That brings us to the delicate question of privacy. If an individual is using a municipal street -- whether in a vehicle or as a pedestrian -- what rights do they have regarding who's watching or taking images? They are in a public location.
Some 25 years ago, it was easy to see if anyone was encroaching on your space or capturing an image. Bulky camcorders and cameras made these individuals stand out. Today, everyone has a phone that is not as intrusive.
This corner is far from advocating for Flock cameras. But as a society, we have allowed our way of life and milestones to be documented in seconds through a technological timeline on platforms that have access to your items. Often, through our sharing of information electronically, we are the culprit.
Now these same social-media users are worried about license plate pictures being taken in public? It's a bit of an overreaction.
This same practice has been happening for years on Interstate 90 in our state. Why the lack of outrage there?
John D'Agostino is editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.