The fight over Flock and other ALPRs
The fight over Flock and other ALPRs
关于 Flock 及其他自动车牌识别系统（ALPR）的争议
There are over 120,000 of Flock’s automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras installed all over the US. Flock’s cameras, and others like them, use AI to identify and track vehicles based on their license plate number, make, model, color, and other info, networked together to track vehicles and people’s movements throughout the day and across the country.
目前，全美各地安装了超过 12 万台 Flock 自动车牌识别（ALPR）摄像头。Flock 的摄像头及同类设备利用人工智能，根据车牌号码、品牌、型号、颜色及其他信息来识别和追踪车辆。这些设备联网运行，能够全天候追踪车辆及人员在全国范围内的行踪。
Dozens of communities have canceled contracts for the cameras or turned them off, including Los Angeles, as officials have pushed for more limits on the data they collect, who has access to it, and how it can be used in the future. Earlier this year, Amazon-owned Ring canceled a partnership with Flock after online backlash.
包括洛杉矶在内的数十个社区已经取消了与该公司的合同或关闭了这些摄像头。官员们正推动对这些设备所收集的数据、访问权限以及未来用途施加更多限制。今年早些时候，在遭遇网络舆论抵制后，亚马逊旗下的 Ring 也取消了与 Flock 的合作关系。
Highlights: Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’
重点摘要：Flock CEO 承认：“我们在这件事上做错了”
Surveillance tech company Flock is rolling out updates to address reports of cops across the country abusing its tools to stalk ex-romantic partners and others. CEO Garrett Langley is delivering a mea culpa, and in an interview with The Verge, says he’s changed his mind on what responsibility Flock bears for how law enforcement uses it.
监控技术公司 Flock 正在推出更新，以应对全美各地警察滥用其工具跟踪前伴侣及其他人的报道。首席执行官 Garrett Langley 对此表示歉意，并在接受《The Verge》采访时表示，他已改变了对 Flock 在执法部门使用其产品时应承担何种责任的看法。
Over the coming weeks, Flock will begin implementing updates that include requiring a previously optional feature called Audit Assistance, which flags “abnormal search behavior” and immediately locks out suspicious users until an administrator reviews their activity. All users will also be required to enter case codes to run searches, ideally limiting the ability to run a query for personal or nefarious purposes.
在接下来的几周内，Flock 将开始实施更新，包括强制启用此前可选的“审计辅助”（Audit Assistance）功能。该功能可标记“异常搜索行为”，并立即锁定可疑用户，直到管理员审查其活动。此外，所有用户在进行搜索时都必须输入案件代码，旨在限制出于个人或非法目的进行查询的行为。
Flock cameras? Target practice.
Flock 摄像头？成了靶子。
As BoingBoing notes, a Tennessee candidate for Congress was charged for four counts of felony vandalism for allegedly shooting up Flock cameras. The Blount County sheriff’s office says the suspect admitted to shooting the “ALPR systems” over about a week in July. To say these systems are unpopular is becoming an understatement。
据 BoingBoing 报道，田纳西州一名国会候选人因涉嫌枪击 Flock 摄像头而被控四项重罪破坏罪。布朗特县警长办公室表示，嫌疑人承认在 7 月份的一周内多次射击这些“ALPR 系统”。说这些系统“不受欢迎”已经不足以形容其现状了。
Another grim portent for our AI policing future.
AI 警务未来的又一个阴暗预兆。
Joel Feder at The Drive reported a frightening story about how Flock cameras, recently suspended by the LAPD, tracked him in Minnesota and sent police after him over “stolen plates.” (They were not.) Flock says its cameras worked “correctly” in the lead-up to a potentially deadly incident. But here we are in our new era of computer policing.
《The Drive》的 Joel Feder 报道了一个令人恐惧的故事：Flock 摄像头（最近已被洛杉矶警察局停用）在明尼苏达州追踪到了他，并因“车牌被盗”为由引来警察对他进行围堵（实际上车牌并未被盗）。Flock 声称其摄像头在这一可能导致致命后果的事件发生前运作“正常”。但这就是我们所处的计算机警务新时代。
The LAPD has suspended its use of Flock’s license plate readers, for now.
洛杉矶警察局已暂时停用 Flock 的车牌识别系统。
Over the weekend, the three-year deal for Flock Safety’s 138 pole-mounted surveillance cameras came to an end, as the LA Times reports the LAPD CIO says it ended the arrangement while working on a new contract that has “very clear terms” about who owns the data collected and what happens to it.
上周末，洛杉矶警察局与 Flock Safety 关于 138 台杆式监控摄像头的三年期合同到期。据《洛杉矶时报》报道，洛杉矶警察局首席信息官表示，他们终止了该协议，目前正在商定一份新合同，其中将包含关于数据所有权及处理方式的“非常明确的条款”。
No, Flock isn’t threatening people for debating surveillance
不，Flock 并没有威胁讨论监控的人
On Thursday, the Instagram account for a lecture series in Newport Beach, CA posted a photo of what appeared to be a cease and desist letter from the surveillance technology company Flock Safety. Flock has received significant backlash over its technology and work with law enforcement agencies, and this letter kicked off yet another wave of criticism against the company for allegedly trying to shut down discussions of its work.
周四，加州纽波特比奇一个系列讲座的 Instagram 账号发布了一张照片，内容似乎是来自监控技术公司 Flock Safety 的停止侵权函（cease and desist letter）。Flock 因其技术及与执法机构的合作而遭到强烈抵制，这封信引发了新一轮对该公司的批评，指责其试图压制关于其业务的讨论。
The all-too-predictable Flock stalking problem.
Flock 跟踪问题：完全在预料之中。
A report from 404 Media shows how more than a dozen cases around the US have shown police using Flock to illegally stalk victims. Flock acknowledged it’s aware of 15 incidents, claiming “each surfaced because of the transparency and accountability features deliberately built into our platform.”
404 Media 的一份报告显示，全美已发生十几起警察利用 Flock 非法跟踪受害者的案件。Flock 承认已知晓 15 起此类事件，并声称“每一件都是因为我们平台内置的透明度和问责功能才被发现的”。
Ring’s Flock breakup doesn’t fix its real problem
Ring 与 Flock 的分手并不能解决其真正的问题
The most striking thing about Ring’s statement that it had parted ways with Flock Safety is what the home security company didn’t say. There was no mention of the public backlash around ties to ICE, or any promise to address users’ concerns about the company’s relationships with law enforcement.
关于 Ring 宣布与 Flock Safety 分道扬镳的声明，最引人注目的是这家家庭安全公司“没说出口”的内容。声明中只字未提公众对其与美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）关联的强烈抵制，也没有承诺解决用户对该公司与执法部门关系的担忧。