Flock Safety adds data-retention limits and audit tools after police misuse concerns

Flock Safety, a provider of automated license-plate readers used by police departments, said on Thursday it will tighten safeguards around its surveillance products. The company will reduce the default retention period for vehicle-movement data from one month to one week, and officers who need longer access must enter a case number.

Flock also plans to roll out an "Audit Assistance" feature that automatically locks out users whose search activity is flagged as abnormal, a measure intended to prevent misuse of the database.

A company spokesperson told NBC News the changes aim to address privacy worries and reduce the risk of officer abuse, noting that several municipalities have ended contracts with Flock amid vandalism of the cameras.

"My biggest concern was and will continue to be that they are a mass surveillance company that collects billions and billions of license plate scans every month on people who have done nothing wrong," said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Flock collects location data on virtually every car in America every month and then facilitates the nationwide sharing of that data where it can be used to target members of vulnerable and disfavored communities and to undermine the privacy and chill the behavior of everyone in America," Marlow added.

Privacy advocates have long criticized the technology for creating a nationwide database of vehicle movements that law-enforcement agencies can access without a warrant, raising concerns about a broad dragnet effect. Law-enforcement officials argue the system helps locate suspects and saves investigative time, but the ACLU maintains that the reforms fall short of its recommendation for a 48-hour retention limit.