On September 5th, Shorewood resident Andrew Daly sent a letter to the Shorewood City Council raising privacy concerns about the Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers (ALPR) that are installed in the South Lake area (see interactive map here). This letter resulted in a request for a Council work session to discuss the issues. This council work session is scheduled for Monday, 11/10/2025 at 5:30 pm. See the work session agenda, including Mr. Daly’s letter here. The South Lake Minnetonka Police Department has a 7 page policy as part of their Police Department Manual that provides guidance for its staff on the use of ALPRs. It is included in the work session packet. (pg. 7 here)
These concerns have gotten the attention of city officials. South Lake Minnetonka Police Chief Justin Ballsrud, Prosecutor Alina Schwartz, City Attorney Jared Shepard, and a representative from Flock Safety will be present at the work session to discuss concerns and answer questions.
Concerns surrounding Flock Safety cameras primarily center on mass surveillance, data sharing practices, potential for abuse, and a lack of transparency and oversight. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), argue the widespread network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) erodes privacy and civil liberties.
Key concerns include:
- Mass Surveillance: Flock cameras capture data on millions of vehicles, including those of people not suspected of any crime, creating a vast database of citizens’ movements. Critics argue this continuous tracking in public spaces, when aggregated, is a form of mass surveillance.
- Extensive Data Sharing: Flock’s system allows local police departments to share their data with other agencies across the country, including federal entities like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
- Potential for Abuse: There have been reports of law enforcement officers misusing the system, such as a Texas officer searching for a woman who had a self-administered abortion or an officer allegedly stalking an ex-wife. Civil liberties advocates warn that the broad access and minimal oversight create an environment ripe for such abuses.
- Lack of Oversight and Transparency: Critics argue there is often insufficient community input, oversight, or clear policies regarding data retention, who can access the data, and how it can be used. The reliance on “local decisions” to govern a national surveillance system is seen as a major failing.
- Data Use and Retention: While Flock states data is encrypted, owned by the customer, and deleted after 30 days by default, concerns remain about what happens to data that becomes part of an investigation, the potential for data breaches, or its use in training future AI models.
Additional reading
NBC News article
Electronic Frontier Foundation article
University of North Carolina Law School article
ACLU article
Let city leaders know what you think.
- Best option: attend and /or speak up at City Council meetings and get it on the public record.
- Contact City Council Members
Dustin Maddy (612) 293-6727 dmaddy@shorewoodmn.gov
Jennifer Labadie (952) 836-8719 jlabadie@shorewoodmn.gov
Michelle DiGruttolo (517) 422-9528 mdigruttolo@shorewoodmn.gov
Guy Sanschagrin (952) 217-1289 gsanschagrin@shorewoodmn.gov
Nat Gorham (617) 780-7771 ngorham@shorewoodmn.gov
