The university has deployed a total of 15 Flock cameras on its Denton campus and an additional two on the Frisco campus since January 2023. These installations are intended to assist law enforcement in investigations, but they have ignited controversy over privacy and surveillance concerns.
Students have voiced their unease about the cameras, with some questioning their necessity in campus environments. Iliana Del Toro, who leads the university's Youth Democratic Socialists of America chapter, remarked that the cameras create a sense of being monitored and unsafe. Flock cameras operate as automated license plate readers, utilizing artificial intelligence to gather and assess vehicle data, including license plates and car models.
The university has stated that these cameras do not link to databases that identify individuals and that there are strict auditing protocols for data access by the university police department.
Recent reports, including one from The Washington Post, have intensified fears regarding the ethical use of Flock cameras, particularly after a police officer misused the technology to track a spouse. Sage Dunn, a sophomore studying media arts, articulated concerns about the potential emergence of a surveillance state, urging consideration of extreme scenarios.
While the City of Denton maintains a transparency portal for Flock camera usage, the university does not offer similar public access. The American Civil Liberties Union has raised Fourth Amendment issues regarding surveillance technology, categorizing Flock cameras as intrusive.
In light of growing public discomfort, some counties have started to act against Flock cameras, such as Hood County, where officials have removed or covered the devices. Del Toro pointed out previous instances where Flock cameras were utilized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, reinforcing the opposition to their presence on campus.
