Someone’s been texting Clevelanders to drum up support for renewing the city’s contract with Flock Safety for its license plate readers, which capture and store in a database images of all passing vehicles. The devices have been drawing scrutiny here and around the country over privacy concerns. Cleveland’s contract with Flock expires at the end of June.
So who is flacking for Flock?
Two readers showed Signal Cleveland the texts they received from “Sam with NDC,” one of which linked to a web page with a poll and the logo of the National Diversity Coalition, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization. But NDC staff members said there is no Sam there and that they will take legal action against whoever is misusing the organization’s identity.
One of the texts from “Sam” stated (erroneously) that Cleveland City Council was set to vote on license plate readers on May 11. (The legislation hasn’t even been introduced yet.) It also linked to an online poll asking text recipients for their position on the controversial devices.
If someone clicked “support,” the next page asked how the respondents, or someone they know, had been affected by crime and “why you believe Cleveland should support practical public safety tools with accountability and privacy protections.”
Those who responded then received a tailored AI-generated email that they could send to their council member.
Council Member Kris Harsh — and all of his colleagues — have received about 20 such emails, he said on Thursday.
Intrigued, Harsh took the poll himself. The AI-generated email took his brief comment (“Crime hurts us all”) and added: “When crimes happen, cameras can help find the people responsible and maybe even get stolen stuff back. This isn’t about some big debate; it’s about making our neighborhoods feel safer for everyone. I think that’s something we can all agree on.”
Harsh said that he warned his colleagues about the apparent “astroturfing,” a term for faking a grassroots movement.
The web pages and email provided clues that appeared to lead back to a California lobbyist. He did not respond to attempts to reach him.
Cleveland had no involvement with or knowledge of the texts, according to a city spokesperson. When asked if Flock Safety was involved, a company spokesperson said only, “We’re supportive of Cleveland residents sharing their opinions on public safety technology if they are so inclined.”
City Council’s Safety Committee will hold a special meeting on the license plate reader contract in mid-June.
Cleveland has 100 of license plate readers made by Flock. Dozens of cities, including Dayton, have cut ties with the company amid citizen pushback. You can learn more about the issue here.
