People are learning their city has AI surveillance cameras everywhere.

At least 97,000 cameras in the US are using AI to track your whereabouts. All of them are run by a company called Flock Safety.

Flock cameras are beloved by police because officers can use the company’s national database to track vehicle movements to recover drugs and stolen automobiles, and to solve evenmore serious crimes. A company spokesman said in a statement that the devices support “communities across the country in addressing crime and locating missing people.”

“At Flock, we believe safety and privacy should go hand in hand, which is why our technology is built around transparency, accountability, and local control,” Chris Castaldo, Flock Safety’s chief information security officer, said in a statement. “Our platform includes safeguards like audit trails to help ensure accountability at every step.”

Yet the company’srapid expansion has given rise to citizen concerns about intrusive surveillance, worries that have intensified amid reports thatfederal immigration enforcement officials used the systemto target immigrants.

Caption from article by Annie Gowen, The Washington Post