License plate reading companies reportedly use hacker data to build surveillance tools for police
A controversial company selling license plate readers has developed a new surveillance tool that aggregates different data sets and connects them to drivers’ car information. A new report says the tool is being sold to police, even using information deducted from data breaches and hacker data.
404 media reports that the flock (formerly invasive car tracking technology has been the subject of litigation) is the final stage in developing a tool called “Nova”. Flock said on its website that Nova can connect “people, vehicles and locations” and helps “solve crime and prevent the next faster crime.” Flock also promises that Nova will “put data under a simple predictable platform.” According to 404 data, NOVA allows law enforcement officers to quickly aggregate information from drivers from various sources, including public records, “market-sale data” from data brokers, and law enforcement databases. It also exploits information from data breaches.
The leaked audio of the company’s meeting showed that such violations included a hacked parking table app, Parkmobile, 404 writing. Accessing data from such vulnerabilities allows license plate numbers to be associated with other data shared with the application, including contact information such as phone numbers and email addresses, and sometimes even mailing addresses.
Gizmodo touches the flock for more information. In a statement shared with 404 media, the company described NOVA as “a public safety data platform that helps investigators analyze and connect data they already have access to, surface to reveal potential customers and close cases faster.” It further noted that the software that powers the tool is “fully customizable” and that “customers choose the data input they want in Nova.” In other words, Flock will be responsible for using its tools responsibly.
Flock also implies that all data in its software suite has been available to police in other ways. “While officials can access similar information in other ways, focusing it in NOVA adds vital transparency and accountability, so our democratically chosen governing body can ensure it is used under the law,” the statement added.
While Flock publicly expressed confidence in its new product, the 404 report shows that the company’s own employees are nervous and conflicted about Nova’s use of stolen data. 404 quoted a staff member: “I was very scared to hear that we used stolen data in our system. In addition to illegal access to data, this seems to create real illegitimate incentives for more data leaks and thefts,” they wrote. “If the data was stolen from the flock? Should that be the standard data in everyone else’s system?”
Flock’s license plate reading technology has attracted ongoing attention from privacy and civil liberties advocates who fear that tough and authoritarian regimes can use such tools for mass surveillance. But the flock shows no sign of slowing down in the ever-expanding portfolio of law enforcement technologies. The company recently announced an expansion of drone technology and acquired an agency that it has been described as a remote pilot software for “first responders” that can be available in emergencies.
