Flock Safety faces escalating political scrutiny and a record number of contract terminations in August following misuse of its AI surveillance cameras by law enforcement. Senators and governors have announced investigations and voiced concerns over data collection and privacy violations.
Flock Safety's AI surveillance technology is facing significant backlash and regulatory pressure due to documented instances of misuse by law enforcement, raising concerns about privacy, mass surveillance, and potential abuses of power.
Flock Safety is experiencing a surge in contract terminations and heightened political scrutiny following multiple widely reported incidents of its AI surveillance cameras being misused by law enforcement. The company's top lawyer recently stated that its modified terms of use expressly prohibit customers and their users from employing Flock Services to mislead, harass, stalk, or otherwise impose upon or violate the legal rights of another person.
This week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced an investigation into Flock Safety's collection, retention, and dissemination of data generated by its artificial intelligence surveillance cameras. Additionally, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a speech criticizing the cameras after two police officers were arrested for misusing Flock technology to track an ex-girlfriend.
Advocates for automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, which predates Flock, have expressed surprise at the pervasive expansion of such systems. Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project, noted that AI is increasingly making ALPRs function as a mass surveillance dragnet, with Flock enabling keyword and people searches, cities integrating real-time facial recognition, and Border Patrol using AI to scan ALPR data for driving patterns.
The bipartisan scrutiny intensified after a Texas Sheriff’s Office reportedly used Flock to search for a woman who had had an abortion, and federal agents proposed using the cameras outside gun shows, according to UC Berkeley law professor Catherine Crump. Crump also commented that Flock represents another Silicon Valley product that threatens to reshape people's lives without public demand.