🔆 Flock Cameras & the Surveillance Debate 📍 What are Flock Cameras? 🟢 Flock provides surveillance technology including Automatic Licence Plate Readers (ALPRs), video cameras, drones and other tools. 🟢 Its network allows law-enforcement agencies to access data across wider areas and connect incidents such as stolen cars and shootings. 📍 Why the Backlash in the U.S.? 🟢 Critics accuse Flock cameras of enabling mass surveillance and misuse of collected data. 🟢 Concerns intensified after reports of police officers misusing Flock data to stalk individuals. 🟢 Questions have also been raised over access to camera data by agencies involved in immigration enforcement. 🟢 Flock has responded by strengthening safeguards and reducing default ALPR data retention to seven days, unless longer retention is legally required. 📍 India’s Similar Challenge 🟢 Indian cities are increasingly experimenting with AI-powered cameras and licence-plate recognition to detect traffic violations. 🟢 Automated surveillance can improve enforcement, but concerns remain over human oversight, privacy and secure handling of personal data. 🟢 Fragmented CCTV systems also make it difficult to share data and generate useful insights in real time. 📍 Key Governance Challenge 🟢 The objective should be to balance public safety with privacy and civil liberties. 🟢 Strong safeguards are needed regarding data retention, access, purpose limitation, accountability and human oversight. 📌 Case Study / Example 🟢 The Flock controversy in the U.S. demonstrates how surveillance technology can improve policing while simultaneously creating risks of data misuse and privacy violations. 🎯 Mains Application Technology-driven policing must follow a rights-based approach, ensuring that enhanced security does not come at the cost of privacy and civil liberties. 🎯 Mains Question “The expansion of AI-based surveillance creates a need to balance public security with the right to privacy.” Discuss in the Indian context. #Polity
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