Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley is calling for a national “compromise” between privacy and safety as the surveillance company faces increasing public backlash.
“When people talk about just one of these, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing, and what we have to prioritize as a country is compromise,” Langley stated in a recent interview with Fox News. “How do we have our safety, and how do we balance privacy?”
Langley’s Fox News appearance follows a series of interviews addressing growing concerns that Flock’s surveillance cameras, drones, and license plate recognition technology could be misused. These concerns have been substantiated by reports, such as one from The Washington Post, which identified 46 cases where police officers allegedly used Flock technology for unauthorized purposes, including stalking.
In response to these allegations, Langley told CBS News, “I apologize. It kills me that she went through that.” However, he also asserted, “I don’t think that Flock created police abuse. I think we’re the first company to ever shine a light on it and build the tools to find it.”
Similar to the backlash against data centers, Flock has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused his opponent Mike Rogers of supporting the “mass proliferation of Flock cameras, any and everywhere, watching your every move to collect information without you even noticing.” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders also posted, “STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE. STOP FLOCK.”
On the Republican side, three House Republicans introduced a bill that would prohibit the federal government from purchasing automated surveillance systems, including Flock Safety cameras, that use facial recognition, biometric IDs, or license plate recognition.
Flock has implemented some changes in response to criticism, including reducing the default data retention period from 30 days to seven days and requiring a case code for data access. However, these changes can be overridden, such as through an “Evidence Mode” that allows for longer data storage.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) commented on Flock’s changes, stating, “While Flock has not shortened the default retention period to the ACLU’s recommended 48 hours, its proposal may be a step in the right direction. Whether this is a real change or just another Flock PR move, however, will depend on how its ‘Evidence Mode’ operates.”
Langley has suggested that state regulators should enact laws making the illegal use of Flock data a criminal offense. He also emphasized the need for regulation and accountability in surveillance technology, stating, “Today, it is too often that in Flock and in other technologies, there’s no regulation. There’s no accountability, and we think that’s wrong.”
Langley is scheduled to appear on-stage at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in October to discuss these issues.
