Car surveillance startup Flock Safety “fingerprints” cars and passes the knowledge on to police, as do its clients, including Simon Property Group.
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MAlls are tightly monitored locations where visitors are monitored by CCTV cameras and security guards are looking out for shoplifters. Simon Property, America’s largest mall owner and a $50 billion retail giant, has decided to take surveillance a step further: Using AI-powered cameras, it can send footage of tourists’ cars on to local police, in keeping with emails Forbes obtained through public records.
The emails reveal a previously undisclosed agreement between Simon Property and Flock Safety, a $4 billion Andreessen Horowitz-backed automotive surveillance company that works with police departments in over 4,000 cities across the country. According to a July 2023 email between a Flock worker and one among his customers, San Diego County, Simon is a “federal customer” and has “recently made the choice to limit access to his individual properties and as an alternative provide it on to be passed on to law enforcement authorities.” Sheriff’s Department.
In other words, it looks like Simon is restricting access to the mall’s internal security staff and as an alternative handing over video feeds to on-site police. The company owns greater than 150 shopping centers in 37 states and in addition has interests in major retail brands resembling Forever 21 and JC Penney’s.
Flock’s AI software allows its customers to look for vehicles by license plate, model, color or other distinguishing features, making it an efficient method to track people’s movements across the country. But while Flock has been very public about its police contracts and touted the usefulness of its software in solving crimes, the corporate has kept its relationships with private corporations secret.
“It is disturbing to see some of America’s largest companies pushing and supporting mass surveillance.”
Flock says its customers can decide to keep their camera feeds completely private or share some data with the police. But by sharing camera images directly with law enforcement, Simon appears to have expanded police surveillance powers without residents’ knowledge or consent. “When the powers of law enforcement are mixed with the enormous powers of some of our largest corporations, there is a lot to worry about,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst on the American Civil Liberties Union. “It is disturbing to see some of America’s largest companies promoting and supporting mass surveillance of American communities.”
The emails received from Forbes from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department show that Simon began sharing his flock feeds from his Fashion Valley mall with the agency in May of last yr. The sheriff’s office didn’t reply to inquiries about the way it used that access.
The emails also suggested collaboration between Flock and the San Diego Police Department (a separate agency from the sheriff). SDPD Captain Jeff Jordan recounted Forbes She also had access to Simon Property feeds. Jordan said it also alerts if a automotive on a hot list for criminal suspects drives through one among Simon’s cameras.
Simon declined to comment.
Retail giant Lowe’s is one other customer, in keeping with two former Flock employees and confirmed by the corporate. Scott Draher, vice chairman of asset protection at Lowe’s, said in a press release that flock cameras are “just one example of a multi-pronged approach” to combat shoplifting. He declined to comment on how a lot of his stores have Flock cameras or whether the corporate provides camera feeds for law enforcement.
Flock declined to comment on specific contracts with private corporations. “Unfortunately, organized retail crime carries a high risk of violence, and our technology provides strong deterrent potential and objective evidence when it is needed,” said Josh Thomas, senior vice chairman of policy and communications at Flock, in a press release. Flock has previously stated that it protects privacy by only collecting vehicle data and never personal information.
Forbes reported earlier this yr that Flock Safety’s AI wasn’t as effective at curbing crime because the startup had claimed in its marketing materials, and that its explosive 2,660% sales growth over three years was due partially to the corporate beginning to roll out Cameras risked breaking state laws without the suitable authorizations from state authorities.
Flock’s relationships with Simon and Lowe date back to at the least 2022. Local news reported that Lowe’s donated $5,000 to the Elizabethtown Police Department in Kentucky to assist the department implement flock technology (a small fraction of the associated fee of a flock system). Flock was used to it too Investigate a theft from a Lowe’s store in Evans, Georgia, in 2023.
Simon Property Group’s headquarters are in Indiana, where flock camera images are shared with local police.
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Also in 2022, Simon installed Flock in his hometown of Indianapolis on the Greenwood Park Mall after two employees were robbed within the mall’s parking zone. in keeping with the Indianapolis Star. The flock cameras “were what broke the case in the two robberies,” said Greenwood Police Chief James Ison star by the point. “When I explained this to the mall, they thought it would be beneficial for them to invest in some of these.”
Deputy Chief Matthew Fillenwarth recounted Forbes The partnership was still energetic and Simon had given Greenwood police access to his flock feeds on the mall. He said the power to watch feeds from private corporations helped make Flock a “game changer.” “During the holidays, the mall attracts over 100,000 people a day, which really benefits us,” he said.
Privacy is essential to people in a conservative state like Indiana, where “nobody wants a big brother,” Fillenwarth said. But he admitted that “it is somewhat there.”
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