[u32480932048]

I'm curious what the FOIA request will yield. Many of these are in private shopping centers or convenience stores, so I'm not sure any particular government body is accountable for them.

It would cost money for your city to buy its own camera system. These are presumably free, or perhaps even paying private property owners to lease the parking space. They can then turn around and charge municipalities and cities (and car repo companies, etc) for access to the information.

The police, et al, have <rules> about what they can gobble up and save, but there's nothing in the constitution about buying evidence from data brokers.

I'd bet having the comings and goings of everyone from the local WalMart and a few convenience stores at key intersections is very useful for tracking people down. At least one brand advertises the ability to get notifications when a vehicle is seen on any camera.

[infecto]

I believe in most of the arrangements the police are getting free access. Walmart decides to pay for a couple cameras at a few thousand per year and Walmart gets access to the data with the option to share it. So it’s even stickier since the police are not paying for it.

Flock will indeed alert on matches.