FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers heard testimony Thursday from Flock Safety, which makes automated license plate reader cameras. Kevin Kane, Flock Safety’s director of governmental affairs, was questioned about police misuse, data ownership and privacy of the company’s ALPR camera network. “People are concerned that we could already be well down the road toward the kind of surveillance state that George Orwell warned about in his dystopian novel 1984,” said State Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy. “It’s important to note that when a customer signs up for Flock, they are sharing data with no one. Everything is a choice of law enforcement, not Flock, as to whom, if anyone, they share data with,” replied Kane. Kane highlighted several safeguards the company implements, including a now-mandatory tool that Shively Police credit for flagging alleged improper searches made by one of its officers. “This is precisely why we have our very clear audit logs,” Kane said. “This is precisely why we’ve never sold data from day one. And this is precisely why we’ve invested so significantly to make auditing of data even easier.” Northern Kentucky Republican TJ Roberts, R-Burlington, raised concern about facial recognition and the company representative’s answer about it. “You can look to their patents; they have facial recognition technology,” Roberts said. “It openly contemplates integrating it with their license plate readers. It is already capable of doing that. It is already doing it.” “Our technology, our ALPRs, we do not utilize this technology,” Kane said. “We do not like facial recognition technology.” This year, Kentucky lawmakers enacted statewide policies for ALPR cameras, including a 90-day cap on image retention and periodic internal audits. House Majority Whip Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said he supports warrants being mandatory for most Flock searches and external reviews of how officers are using the system. “So