- Flock cameras have been used by police to track romantic partners, with reports of misuse across the US.
- At least 50 cities have turned off Flock services due to public backlash.
- Flock released an optional audit feature earlier this year, which most police customers turned on.
- Misuse proved rampant, leading Flock to make the audit feature standard.
- Flock announced platform changes including mandatory criminal case numbers for every search, automatic abnormal activity review, and data retention cut from 30 to 7 days.
- CEO Garrett Langley admitted the company took too long to protect cameras from police abuse.
- Flock has seen an increase in law enforcement abusing its technology.
- Langley noted that police have expressed concerns about their colleagues abusing the technology.
- Langley acknowledged that he resisted taking a stronger stance on data retention policies.
- He has since agreed with groups like the American Civil Liberties Union that police should need an active case number to search Flock's data.
Flock Safety, a prominent maker of license plate cameras, is implementing major changes to its surveillance platform in response to growing concerns over police misuse. The company will now require law enforcement officers to label searches with a criminal case number and will automatically review searches for abnormal activity, a feature previously used voluntarily by only a third of its 7,000 agency clients.8
CEO Garrett Langley acknowledged that the company had been slow to act, stating, "Yeah... yes" when asked if they took too long to protect their technology from abuse. Flock is also reducing data retention from 30 days to 7 days to further curb potential misuse. The changes come after reports of police using Flock cameras to track individuals without cause, including former partners, raising significant public backlash.126
Langley noted that the misuse of Flock's technology has been rampant, prompting the need for an audit feature that automatically logs searches and flags unusual behavior. He expressed a commitment to addressing the issue, stating, "If anyone is going to be the one that spearheads getting rid of abusive cops? Sign me up." The company has seen a 7:1 ratio of new customers to those lost, indicating a continued demand for its services despite the controversies.
Flock's decision to implement these changes aligns with advocacy from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who argue that police should require an active case number to access Flock's data. Langley admitted, "They're right. I think it should be required."10
“The changes include cutting data retention from 30 days to seven and automatically flagging abnormal searches, a feature previously used by only a third of its 7,000 law enforcement agencies. At least 50 cities had turned off Flock services, but 16 have returned in the last three months.”
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