UNC-Chapel Hill police stop sharing Flock data with NC law enforcement agencies, tell me about this news today

The UNC-Chapel Hill Police Department shifted its policy to end the automatic sharing of automated license plate reader (ALPR) data from its campus Flock Safety network with outside North Carolina law enforcement agencies.

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Key Details of the Decision

• Shift to Internal/Restricted Use: UNC Police installed roughly 23 Flock Safety cameras around campus grounds and major access corridors under a contract initiated in 2024. By disabling open or automated cross-agency sharing, vehicle scans captured on campus grounds will primarily remain confined to UNC Police for direct campus-safety investigations rather than feeding a regional, interoperable search pool by default.

• Rising Scrutiny Over Cross-Agency Audits: The decision comes amid widespread pushback across North Carolina universities and municipalities. Recent public records requests and audit reports across other institutions (such as NC A&T and UNC Pembroke) revealed that campus-based cameras were being queried millions of times by outside municipal, county, and out-of-state entities without direct oversight or active investigations involving the campus itself.

• Campus Privacy and Civil Liberties Pushback: Students, faculty, and local privacy advocates had raised serious concerns about constant surveillance across student commuting routes and walking areas. Activists highlighted that broad data-sharing agreements turn localized campus security systems into de facto dragnet surveillance hubs.

• Broader Statewide Context: Several nearby jurisdictions in the Research Triangle and wider North Carolina (including Hillsborough and Pittsboro) have either cancelled, scaled back, or restricted their Flock contracts over transparency, audit redactions, and Fourth Amendment concerns regarding warrantless location tracking.

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