TROY, N.Y. (WRGB) — Troy city leaders moved closer Thursday night to adopting new rules governing automated license plate readers, including Flock cameras, as residents continued to raise concerns about privacy and how the technology is used.
The Troy City Council voted to amend Local Law 3, which would create guidelines and regulations for automated license plate readers. The amendments include extending the data retention period to 72 hours from 48 hours, allowing the Rensselaer County district attorney to request license plate data, and requiring deletion of data upon the conclusion of prosecution, including appeals.
Council member Noreen McKee said the changes also address preserving data tied to a specific incident. “We also then gave them this ability to preserve the data on the date of it into, say, a crime occurs, 5 o’clock on Friday, to felony, you know, they pursued it, they find that it is a felony,” McKee said. “And then they want to investigate it.”
Some residents said they remain unhappy with the city’s use of the cameras. One resident said, “I dont think they belong in Troy because they are not being truthful about the data they are collecting.”
Residents thanked the council for hearing concerns and removing misdemeanor crimes as a reason to investigate using Flock cameras, but several said the council still is not fully addressing privacy issues.
Maya, a Troy resident who did not provide a last name, said, “I believe that this gives the ALP cameras presents a significant threat to the youth and the children of Troy, who have absolutely no data privacy protection.”
Bri Harrington, also a Troy resident, criticized the longer retention window. “Something troubling is the decision to increase the data retention to 72 hours. It feels like there was never a clear explanation as to why this was necessary,” Harrington said.
Mayor Carmella Mantello, District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly and Chief Dan DeWolf said in a joint statement that, “A 72-hour data retention limit is a slap in the face to law enforcement and demonstrates just how unserious and naive the council is about what it actually takes to solve crimes.”
Attorney Greg Rinckey, founding partner at Tully Rinckey, said communities writing laws to regulate license plate readers should include clear limits. “Must have short retention period, reasons for accessing the data and also who is accessing the data so that not everybody has access to the data,” Rinckey said.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the local law Oct. 1, and it is expected to pass unanimously.
