2 Syracuse politicians want to cut all ties with license plate reader company over privacy concerns

Editor’s note: This article updated with a response from Flock Safety on Friday evening.

Syracuse, N.Y. ― Two Syracuse common councilors are looking to shut down the city’s more than two dozen license plate readers.

Common Councilor Jimmy Monto told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that he does not trust the data-sharing “track record” of Flock Safety, the company contracted for the cameras.

The city signed the $250,000 contract for the 26 license plate reading cameras in October 2023, despite pushback from critics. The critics were concerned police – or others – could use the data to track people improperly and the network would focus on neighborhoods where people of color live.

Monto said Friday that the city needs to be very cautious about using technology to track people when that data can be abused.

Monto and Common Councilor Corey Williams sent a letter to the city clerk Friday calling for legislation to be prepared to revoke the city ordinance approving the use of Flock cameras. They requested the proposal be considered at a Common Council meeting on Nov. 24.

This proposal comes as municipalities across the country are reconsidering contracts with Flock over concerns of data-sharing.

“We’re living in a time right now where vans full of agents are pulling up to snatch business owners,” Monto said. “We’re also living in a time where a woman can be seen as a criminal for seeking healthcare.”

Monto said in the letter it is necessary to stop using the cameras because Flock has been collecting personal data that possibly violates the privacy of members of the public. The company may also be inappropriately sharing the information, the letter said.

Flock denied it is doing anything inappropriate with the data collected.

Each customer that uses Flock technology “fully owns and controls 100% of the data collected from their cameras,” said Paris Lewbel, a spokesperson for the Atlanta-based company.

“Customers – not Flock – decide if, when, and with whom to share information and they can modify or revoke sharing access at any time,“ he said.

All data is automatically deleted by default after 30 days unless local laws or policies dictate otherwise, Lewbel said.

Lewbel added Flock does not presently have any contractual relationship with ICE or any Department of Homeland Security agency.

Originally, Syracuse’s data from the license plate readers had been available for at least a year in a national database accessible to immigration officials, Syracuse police spokesperson Kieran Coffey told Syracuse.com.

An agency could input a specific license plate number and the system would show all cities the license plate was captured in, including Syracuse, Coffey said.

Over the summer, the department opted out of being included in the database, Coffey said.

Now, if other agencies want access to the city’s data, they have to submit a written request, he said. To the best of his knowledge, the department has not received any written requests, Coffey said.

He said that between June 2024 and June 2025, Syracuse showed up in just under 4.4 million searches in the database. He said fewer than 500 of the searches were specifically targeting Syracuse’s data. The other searches included data from over 3,000 other municipalities.

Syracuse’s data was included in 2,097 “immigration related” searches, he said. That could mean license plates subject to these searches passed through Syracuse.

Monto said that even though the city has since opted out of the database, he is concerned by Flock’s practices and cites a specific line in the city’s contract with the company.

According to the contract, Flock can give the footage to third parties, including law enforcement and government agencies, if required by law or if there is a “good faith belief” disclosing the data would be “necessary to comply with a legal process.”

Monto said he would be willing to approve a contract with another company that can provide license plate readers if it does not include that language in the agreement.

Syracuse Police Chief Joseph Cecile said in a statement that the police department “will review the legislation and be prepared to share information and consult with members of the Council regarding the proposal.”

Monto said he wants Syracuse police to have “every tool possible to do their job,” but he does not want to sacrifice the public good.

He said he is not open to any conversation that includes maintaining a contract with Flock.

Councilor Chol Majok, who chairs the Public Safety Committee overseeing the police department, said he needs to do more research before deciding if he’ll support his colleagues’ proposal.

He noted that the city has a legal contract that’s paying Flock for the services. That deal needs to be analyzed, he said.

Majok also cautioned that examples of misuse in other cities does not mean there’s a danger of it happening in Syracuse.

City officials in Redmond, Washington, this month turned off their Flock camera system after learning the U.S. Border Patrol improperly accessed a nearby city’s system in October, according to My Northwest.

Cities in Oregon, Michigan and Wisconsin have also rejected or ended contracts with Flock.

In August, the ACLU published an article warning that Flock data is being used to aid ICE agents and to track women who had an illegal abortion.

Monto said that as we see immigration agencies increasing their efforts and working as “bad actors”, the city has to ensure they are not aiding them.

He said if there is even a minute chance that Flock could distribute the city’s data to these bad actors, “they need to go.”

Source:  https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2025/11/2-syracuse-politicians-want-to-cut-all-ties-with-license-plate-reader-company-over-privacy-concerns.html

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