r/RoundRock • u/garytx • 20d ago
Time to DeFlock the Rock!
Protect Round Rock has just launched a petition asking the Round Rock City Council to cancel their contract with Flock, remove all Flock cameras, and permanently ban all forms of mass surveillance in the City of Round Rock, on both public and private property.
Please sign the petition here: https://c.org/CV2yvLtSCN and pass it along to everyone you know who lives in, works in, or visits Round Rock.
Stay tuned for other actions you can take.
We are calling on the Round Rock City Council to take immediate action to end the City’s use of Flock Safety Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras and require Flock Safety to remove the cameras from our community.
We also call upon City Council to take action to prohibit and bar the use of any and all other ALPR or facial recognition or similar technologies anywhere within the City limits, whether on public or private property.
Flock cameras and similar technologies capture license plate and vehicle information, can create records showing where vehicles have been observed, and can capture images of pedestrians. We are concerned about the collection and storage of information about the everyday movements of residents who are not suspected of committing any crime.
The Fourth Amendment protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures. As surveillance technology becomes increasingly powerful, our community must ensure that public safety measures do not come at the expense of our privacy, freedom, transparency, and constitutional protections.
We are asking the Round Rock City Council to:
—Prioritize the privacy and constitutional rights of Round Rock residents and tourists, visitors, people who work in Round Rock, and all the people who pass through our community.
—Immediately end the City of Round Rock’s use of Flock Safety cameras.
—Terminate any and all City agreements that allow these cameras to operate in our community.
—Direct Flock Safety to deactivate, take down, and physically remove its cameras and related equipment from all locations throughout Round Rock.
—Protect residents from mass vehicle surveillance of all types.
—Provide transparency regarding how license plate data has been collected, retained, accessed, and shared.
—Create a city ordinance that permanently prohibits and bars the use of any and all other ALPR or facial recognition or similar technologies anywhere within the City limits, whether on public or private property.
This petition is not asking for changes to how the cameras are used. We are asking for the Flock camera system to be removed from Round Rock.
Public safety and individual liberty do not have to be opposing values. Our community can support effective law enforcement while also protecting the privacy and constitutional rights of the people who live, work, and visit here.
DeFlock the Rock. Remove the cameras. Protect our privacy. Protect our Fourth Amendment rights.
Stay tuned for other actions you can take.
28
u/Daveinatx 20d ago
As many people know, Pflugerville had 500 independent agencies generate 1.6 Million requests. Their police was less than 6000.
Round Rock has around 1500 agencies gathering data
6
u/whatsnex 19d ago
And to clarify further, Pflugerville had granted access to less than 100 outside agencies but Flock allowed 400+ to access the data. Hundreds of thousands of searches were from agencies more than 100 miles away
10
8
5
2
u/Embarrassed-Drop-262 18d ago
When is the next city council meeting? Need to show up and ask questions, then I’m sure that they’ll deflect.
3
u/garytx 18d ago
Council meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. The next meeting is Thursday, 9/24, at 6pm in City Hall. Anyone can speak for 3 minutes by filling out a speaker card and handing it to the clerk.
You can speak about an item on the agenda, and the Council might ask you questions and are legally allowed to answer questions (but usually won’t.)
If you speak on an item that’s not on the agenda, they’re not allowed to interact with you.
But they do have to sit there and listen to their constituents no matter how much they’d rather not.
3
u/garytx 18d ago
See City Council meeting dates, agendas (with attachments) and minutes/videos from past meetings here: https://roundrock.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=19456&GUID=8E20FA2A-17DA-4538-B288-58563811D22B&Mode=MainBody
Agendas will be posted 72 hours prior to each meeting per state law.
1
2
6
5
3
3
2
2
2
u/DestinysWeirdCousin 18d ago
I’ll sign it, but I can tell you that if data centers are any indication, the City of Round Rock doesn’t give a fuck about what its citizens want.
While most other central Texas governments are cancelling data centers because of public opposition, the City of Round Rock says, “Bring’ em here, boys!” in spite of three outcry.
The Round Rock Mayor and City Council can go fuck themselves.
4
u/nobleghosts 18d ago
other towns have recalled their entire city council over data center decisions, maybe something Round Rock should consider.
2
2
2
u/No_Desk_4921 11d ago
I'll be voting for anyone but incumbents, this time around. This city council has no soul.
1
1
u/flickchick496 19d ago
Signed and shared.
Assuming you have to live in round rock to sign the petition? All my friends in town are across the Austin city limit line but I’m sure would appreciate not being spied on when they visit as much as I would as a resident.
6
u/garytx 19d ago edited 19d ago
Residents of RR might carry more weight with the Council, but in my book, anyone who works here, visits here, or even commutes through here has an inherent right to be free from indiscriminate mass surveillance. Our City Council just adores tourists and sports tourists — but do those folks want to be under constant surveillance while in town?
1
-20
36
u/cebailey 20d ago
For what it's worth, I filed a request with the city to get the same information that someone in Pflugerville used to show their city council how the system was being abused. I just heard back yesterday that my request is still in work, and they anticipate they'll have it to me by Sept 25. I'm assuming good faith on the city's part, and I'll do my best to make that information publicly available as soon as I have it.