A broad alliance of student and faculty groups delivered a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures to Emory University on Friday, demanding it cease using Flock Safety license-plate readers to record vehicles on campus and initiate a community-led review of campus surveillance practices.
"Our university should NOT be functioning as a node in the national surveillance dragnet," the petition states.
The DeFlock Emory Coalition says it has identified 10 Flock cameras on Emory property, including Emory University Hospital, which the university says have been present for two years. The student-faculty coalition is raising concerns about Emory and law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, using Flock's vehicle images to target immigrants or activists.
Emory contends footage from campus Flock cameras is only accessible to the Emory Police Department, which uses the data "to identify and reduce potential threatening activity."
