Police sign deal with new drones in Arizona town tied to controversial surveillance firm

Use of police 'Flock' drones for surveillance raises privacy concerns

An Arizona town signed a one-year contract with a controversial surveillance company called Flock. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen learns how the new drones are causing data and privacy concerns. 

TUCSON, Ariz. - An Arizona town has signed a one-year contract with a controversial surveillance company called Flock. 

What we know:

The Oro Valley Police Department will be equipped with new drones armed with cameras, but the move is raising questions: will they be used for safety or surveillance?

"We try to get a drone overhead of emergency incidents, especially when officer safety is involved," Darren Wright, with the police department, said. "We deploy them for missing children or vulnerable adults when we’re searching for them, especially in the summertime. They get lost in the desert and we’d be able to locate that heat signature and stuff, locate them quicker and safer when it’s very dangerous to be out there."

The department, located just north of Tucson, signed a $146,000 one-year contract with Flock to operate four drones equipped with license plate readers. The drones can launch from the department and be operated remotely.

The backstory:

The company Flock made headlines last year. A California town revealed the license plate reader company was sharing data with federal agencies because of a setting being turned on without their knowledge. 

Local perspective:

The city of Flagstaff voted to remove all Flock license plate readers from the city last year.

Why you should care:

"The fact a license plate reader is running drones is another thing that should raise eyebrows in communities," said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Stanley and the ACLU are focused on privacy concerns.

"There need to be privacy protections," Stanley said. "If there’s a bunch of drone footage being collected and not evidence in any kind of justice proceeding, it shouldn’t be kept that long. It shouldn’t be shared wildly or used for purposes other than what it was captured for."

What they're saying:

In statements, Flock says they do not work with ICE and that, by default, sharing with federal agencies is disabled. Oro Valley says they have addressed any data concerns.

"This is something that only we have access to the footage for, and we control the drone launch, the purpose for the launch, and the purpose for the mission," Wright said.

The department also says drone flights will not be used for general surveillance.

"The drone program is strictly proactive and not reactive," Wright said. "So it’s not just flying around all the time. It has to be launched for a specific law enforcement reason."