Comment 8: What the Flock?!

With a new semester on the horizon, industrious law students will already be thinking about paper topics. You want to be industrious, right? One matter of hotly contested debate in this country, that is also technology related (which is kind of my raison d’être), has to do with Flock cameras. There is a real argument happening regarding Flock’s business activities, their use by law enforcement, and issues with the Fourth Amendment. There’s a lot of aspects on the law (from privacy-to-constitutional and so much in-between) that could make for a stellar research paper.

One resource that could be helpful is the website Have I Been Flocked? (HIBF). The site offers a trove of reports, usage audits, and more. You can even see if your license plate has been captured. Mine hadn’t. Actually, I’m certain that it has but it wasn’t in the data that HIBF has on hand.

If you’re interested in this topic I also recommend looking at the reporting done by 404 Media. Flock has become a fairly regular beat for them and they have more than once broken huge stories on the controversy.

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The ABA Rules of Professional Conduct, Model Rule 1.1 Comment 8 requires, “To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer shall keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” To that end, we have developed this regular series to develop the competence and skills necessary to responsibly choose and use the best technologies for your educational and professional lives. If you have any questions, concerns, or topics you would like to see discussed, please reach out to e.koltonski@csuohio.edu  with “Comment 8” in the subject.