ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Asheville City Council voted 5–2 Tuesday to authorize the city manager to end the city’s contract with Flock Safety, which provides AI-powered license plate reader cameras.
Residents spoke during the council meeting Tuesday evening, with some citing their concerns with privacy and surveillance. Asheville currently has 11 Flock cameras, which will now be removed.
The approved resolution that calls for the city manager to terminate Asheville’s Flock contract reads, in part: “City employees are to suspend all access, searching, and sharing of data collected through the Flock technology, while ensuring existing data is handled according to legal and retention requirements. A comprehensive review will be conducted, and policy recommendations regarding the future use, oversight, and privacy safeguards of such surveillance technology will be developed.”…