Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

South Lyon joins a growing number of cities either opting out, or choosing not to renew their contracts with Flock Safety, over privacy concerns with the company's automated license plate readers.

A total of two Flock LPRs are positioned on 10 Mile Road in South Lyon. City Council voted 5-2 Monday to not renew its contract next year.

"The fact that we do not know exactly what data is being collected. Do not own the data. Do not control who has access to it. And do not control how it is subsequently used, is obviously a concern," said Mayor Stephen Kennedy.

"This same concern has finally reached Lansing, where members of the Legislature from both parties are currently working to develop guidelines and safeguards regarding these issues, as well as data retention time and the process and procedures for accessing it. Just recently, this topic has finally made its way to the legislators Washington, who are now looking into it as well."

Councilwoman Lisa Popa called for decorum following a month of heated debates over privacy and other concerns with the devices.

"I may not agree with something someone says. I surely know that some of you may not agree with what I say. But at no point, at least from my perspective, should it lead to threats, bigotry, antisemitism, threats toward our law enforcement, rhetoric like that. That was very concerning to me," she said.

"We can all have differing opinions, but at no point am I going to hate someone because they may not agree with me. And I just hope the same would be reciprocated."

Following a recent discussion between the city's manager and police chief and representatives with Flock, it was decided the devices could be covered and no further data would be collected.

South Lyon Police posted pictures on social media of plastic bags placed over the LPRs overnight.

Councilman Alex Hansen was among those raising privacy concerns about the data being collected, and who has access to it.

"What we know today is certainly different than what we knew when we voted for the contract originally to be approved," he said. "We didn't know that the data that Flock was going to be collecting was going to be proprietary, that they could turn around and make a profit off of the historical data for traffic information and where folks have been traveling."

"I definitely feel the concerns expressed so far, regarding the data collection and such, is still in the forefront of my mind."

Video of Monday's City Council meeting is linked below.