Watch those school bus camera contracts

 Because we cannot have nice things, it appears, 404 Media reports that BusPatrol, the school bus stop arm cameras purveyor, that many of us have worked so hard to get legalized are now sharing data directly with police departments well outside of the context of illegally passing stopped school buses: 

BusPatrol has already taken steps to share the collected data with law enforcement contracting giant Axon, according to leaked BusPatrol documents and a source with knowledge of the plans. Internally, BusPatrol has acknowledged how controversial its plan to collect and share this data is pointing specifically to concerns about ICE using license plate data, but emphasizes the likely success of selling the angle of protecting children.

As noted, much like the Flock cameras which also were sold to us in part around safety of children, it is not only the police department that could have access to such data:

Often, ALPRs are pitched as a way for cities to find stolen cars or missing people. But last year, 404 Media revealed that local cops were performing lookups in the national system of Flock on behalf of ICE. That coverage and others, such as police using Flock cameras to track a woman who self-administered an abortion, have triggered a nationwide debate around ALPR cameras, with many communities deciding to rip out the cameras altogether. BusPatrol is aware of the controversy around ALPR cameras, and particularly of the concern that ICE may gain access to the data, according to the BusPatrol documents viewed by 404 Media. The company anticipates the plans will receive resistance from communities that already have school buses with BusPatrol cameras installed, they say. 404 Media contacted multiple school districts listed as BusPatrol users on the company’s website but did not receive a response. The company also sees potential legal issues if it provides incorrect data.

And speaking of Flock: 

The company has also discussed the possibility of providing the collected license plate data to Flock, according to the BusPatrol documents. Flock told 404 Media in an email it does not work with BusPatrol.

The only way I can think to prevent this is to have written into a local contract that only a car driving past a bus will be accessed by anyone at all. Those contracts aren't, in Massachusetts, reviewed by local school committees, but they are public documents.