Flocks Sing the Blues as Texas Gov Swoons?

Letter to Ephesians: “Song Sung Blue” wasn’t a sad song, but in its way a glad song. So may be this Commentary on AI-powered Flock cameras, which addresses the (im)balance of power today between the cops & robbers as “Tex Gov moves to cut state funding” for Flocks …

As recent Fox News coverage related, Gov. Greg Abbott “ordered state agencies to pause funding … for AI-powered Flock cameras, which have come under scrutiny nationwide amid privacy concerns,” even though most funding for them comes from the federal government. As noted, Flock Safety provides automated license plate readers in Texas & many other states. The cameras photograph passing vehicles & record identifying info. And when they are hooked up to one another nationwide & employ AI capabilities to boot, the cameras can detect vehicle make, model & color, even license plate numbers, bumper stickers & dents. Supporters of the tech argue the cameras helped cops locate suspects & stolen vehicles. Opponents challenge those stats & insist they not only destroy folks’ privacy but expose them to misuse of collected info by authorities … or criminals & hackers.

Yet, that last concern particularly deserves attention. As alarming as AI, Flocks & other high-tech innovations like Rings can be for privacy advocates, aren’t those same & other innovations increasingly being employed by drug dealers, human traffickers, terrorists, scofflaws & other criminals to foil, allude & defeat public safety? Have we already fallen into a kind of high tech “arms race” between the good & bad guys? If so, isn’t it time to ask more pointedly if government is constitutionally required under the 4^th Amendment (as suggested by Gov Abbott) to tell tech companies how to design their products? And to not only limit law enforcement’s access to their crime-defeating info but in doing so help criminals HIDE behind such mandated firewalls? As if they don’t already have their own new tech, like “burner” phones, encryptions, deepfakes & cryptocurrency, to do so? DOJ has been warning for years about this inevitable constitutional dilemma. Well, here it is in real time, under concrete circumstances. Where will the US Supreme Court ultimately draw the constitutional line? Hopefully, it will be a “common sense” song & not a "sad" one.

Davd Soul