GRETNA, Neb. (KMTV) — Students at Gretna East High School are raising privacy concerns after learning there are multiple Flock cameras within a 3-mile radius of their school.
Gretna East senior Aidan McClaren started researching the cameras after hearing mixed opinions on where Flock camera data is stored and who can access it. While researching, he found 10 Flock cameras within a 3-mile radius of his high school.
"It is kind of scary to think that it is maybe capturing high school students and there is a middle school just around the corner so them and the elementary school," McClaren said.
Looking for more information, McClaren wrote an article for his school news site, bringing questions to the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office.
"They told me that they couldn't share which cameras they own since private organizations like homeowners associations and private companies can buy the cameras and use them for their own use," McClaren said.
McClaren said a big concern among students is their privacy.
"I would say the majority opinion among students at my school is negative towards the cameras they are against them they don't like the idea of mass surveillance," McClaren said.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the data collected from the cameras helps them track everything from stolen vehicles and missing persons to people with active arrest warrants. The data and camera footage is only available to law enforcement and is saved for 30 days then deleted, unless needed for an investigation.
"They have 31 cameras they tell you the numbers but they don't tell you where they're at obviously. They tell you how many times they have searched in the past month and how many hits they've gotten and stuff like that," McClaren said.
The Sheriff's Office was unable to do an on-camera interview, but said in a statement they have more than one camera within the 3-mile radius, and that the school district had no input in deciding camera locations.
"It does make me worry a little bit because I'm seeing people just become more comfortable with this kind of thing and I think it's important that I did this article just to kind of show people what they actually do and how the police use them," McClaren said.
You can learn more about how the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office uses their Flock cameras through their Flock Transparency Portal,which has a Flock web domain address.
You can find Aidan McClaren's article here. McClaren is the Editor-in-Chief of Gretna East's Wingspan, a student news site.
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