Flock cameras and data centers are all over the news. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe issued an order that taverns some license plate reader cameras in the state, but not all of them. It's also important to note Flock is not the only brand of such cameras.
The main problems I see with the license plate readers is that they often misread a plate, mistaking a 5 for an S, for example, and law enforcement accepts the camera's data without double checking it as much as possible. Too much reliance on technology, in other words. There also have been way too many instances of misuse of the data to track spouses and other romantic partners and the like.
"Privacy" has been a big cry but if I'm on a public street or in an area dedicated to public use, such as a commercial parking lot, I don't think I have an expectation of privacy, nor do you.
But there is obviously a need for stricter rules on use of such cameras. It would best be handled on a statewide basis or federally. Our elected officials need to get busy.
All of the stuff we have on computers takes electricity to preserve for any length of time, thus data centers. My first question is if we are storing data that we don't need long term. And just who accesses all that data, and why?
There is news the federal government is amassing all the data available on every citizen for a giant government computer. Talk about visions of "1984." (If you have not read that book, you should). Again, our elected officials need to ask more questions.
I don't like the fact that farmland is being gobbled up for data centers. This country has plenty of unused former manufacturing sites to redevelop and data center developers ought to be required to utilize them if possible.
And we really need more transparency about what is being stored in those centers. Talk about privacy problems.
