(DUBLIN, CA.) – During Dublin’s Mar. 3 city council meeting, a lengthy report is delivered regarding the security of the public data the city collects of its residents.
Chief of Police Victor Fox and Chief Information Security Officer Steve Windsor report on the type of data collection and analysis tools the city uses, the type of data collected and how it is protected.
Led by Fox, the first half of this report focuses on a hardware company called Flock Safety.
This company provides Dublin Police Services (DPS) with cameras. These are mostly used for either investigative reasons or for situational awareness.
The main investigative type of camera used by the city are Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR). These collect the license plates, make, color and distinguishing features of vehicles around the city.
Situational cameras aid DPS by providing instant access to the places listed in the photo below. These are not, however, used for generalized surveillance unless there is a valid law enforcement purpose behind such surveillance.
Photo Credit: https://dublinca.new.swagit.com/videos/377005
The police department in Gilbert, AZ. has made similar claims, stating that citizen data is protected and used only for legitimate law enforcement purposes. Even so, some of Gilbert's residents feel very negatively about Flock and its forms of monitoring the city.
Data collected from both of these cameras can be used to aid DPS in investigations. However, if data collected by these is not pulled from DPS systems for investigation purposes, it is automatically and permanently deleted from all systems after 30 days.
Furthermore, Fox states that all data collected using Flock Safety cameras is protected, as DPS has full control over this data.
"DPS [decides] who [to] share the data with. Flock doesn't decide that. We remain a hundred percent in control [over] who we share our data with, and we share our Flock data per state law with California agencies only.”
Protections are also put on the data by tracking exactly who accesses it and what kinds of searches those who have access to the systems are making.
Employee searches are not only fully logged with each user’s unique username and ID, but are also required to include a reason for the search.
Fox reports that any search appearing to include immigration enforcement or reproductive care in its reasoning is automatically blocked from going through.
Despite these policies and protections supposedly in place in cities using Flock, many residents of Penascola, FL. are very concerned regarding how Flock and their city uses and shares data.
Dublin also utilizes a tool called Peregrine Technologies. Instead of dealing with cameras and surveillance, Peregrine helps the city compile and analyze all of their data at a much faster rate.
This section of the presentation is delivered by Windsor. He opens with the specification that the analyses conducted using Peregrine do not target specific people or groups, nor do they
Data accessed by Peregrine is also encrypted on both Peregrine and the city’s end. To strengthen the idea that this software is safe and can be trusted, Windsor shares more about the software’s qualifications.
"They have also achieved high level security certifications, including FedRamp, which stands for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program. FedRamp is one of the most stringent cybersecurity systems in existence. It provides the strongest protections, especially for organizations involved in national security, law enforcement, and critical infrastructure data.”
He goes on to explain that all employees are regularly trained in how to spot and deal with phishing emails. Technology used by employees is also heavily guarded behind malware protection and strong firewalls.
Photo Credit: https://dublinca.new.swagit.com/videos/377005
These are meant to provide protections for city data from both inside facilities and from potential attackers on the outside.
Though Peregrine Technologies and Flock Safety are two different types of data collection and analysis tools, they share some protections in common.
Both comply with all state and federal laws that are applicable to their usages. Additionally, all data is 100% in the control of Dublin, and city staff that have access to the data organized and collected by these tools have access to only the bare minimum amount of data needed to complete their tasks.
The facilities in which these staff work are also protected against intruders, as all employees must have a physical badge in order to enter the buildings.
Photo Credit: https://dublinca.new.swagit.com/videos/377005
If you have any questions, please email me at madison.v@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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