Both of Ohio’s major governor candidates have adopted critical stances on Flock surveillance cameras – while not supporting outlawing them altogether.
Asked about Flock cameras this week, Democrat Amy Acton responded by saying she would perform a top-to-bottom review of all law enforcement and public safety responses while also alluding to the devices’ benefits.
“We’re working very closely with our law enforcement officers to use technology in all the right ways to protect Ohioans,” Acton said during a campaign event in Columbus on Tuesday in which she announced an endorsement from a major state police union, according to the Statehouse News Bureau. “I absolutely know that we have had, as Gov. DeWine has said, many crimes solved due to the use of technology. So we’ll start with a comprehensive overview. And when I have more information, I’ll have more, more to say.”
After the Acton campaign said some misunderstood Acton’s comments, spokesperson Addie Bullock issued a statement on Wednesday with more to say.
“As Governor, she would push for strict guardrails around this technology and work to prevent the abuse of AI surveillance,” said Bullock. “Dr. Acton’s number one priority is keeping Ohioans safe, but it cannot come at the expense of our First Amendment rights.”
Her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramaswamy, meanwhile, has raised concerns about how advances in artificial intelligence have converted Flock cameras into a network capable of being used to track citizens’ everyday movements.
“I do not want to see an authoritarian surveillance state that ultimately threatens what this country was built on, which is our freedom, on the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence,” Ramaswamy said last month when he was asked about the topic by a voter during a campaign appearance at the Butler County Fair, according to C-SPAN.
He added: “If the government is able to map out every movement you make – we’re not there – but if you skate to where the puck is going, it’s not hard to imagine a Chinese-style surveillance state.”
Ramaswamy didn’t propose any specific course of action in his response. Signal Statewide has reached out to his campaign for additional information.
While neither major governor candidate is calling to ban Flock cameras, a third-party candidate in the race has. Libertarian Don Kissick described his opposition to the cameras as “unwavering” in a social media post on Monday.
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What are Flock cameras?
Flock, an Atlanta-based company, produces an automated license plate reader that is widely used by law enforcement and other government agencies. There are more than 120,000 of them across 49 U.S. states, according to the company. The cameras are capable of detecting and automatically logging general vehicle characteristics, including make and model.
Police have used the cameras for years to solve crimes, and state spending records show many state agencies use them too for reasons that are unclear, as Signal Statewide previously reported.
But scrutiny of the company has grown recently as the public has gotten more concerned about their privacy implications. Opposition also has grown on the left as it’s been revealed that some local police departments have passed along information collected by the cameras to assist the Trump administration in federal immigration enforcement efforts.
There are multiple potential bills in the works in Columbus that seek to regulate Flock cameras and other similar devices in Ohio, according to the Statehouse News Bureau. Possible components include requiring police to get a warrant to use them, banning the government from using AI to enhance them or regulating how the data they collect can be stored and accessed.
