Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley asserts that the nation must achieve a “compromise” balancing privacy and public safety.
Langley stated in a recent Fox News interview that focusing solely on either privacy or safety is misguided; instead, the country should aim for a compromise. He questioned how to simultaneously ensure safety and protect privacy.
This interview on Fox News is one of several Langley has participated in, amidst increasing public concern over potential misuse of Flock’s surveillance tools, including cameras, drones, and license plate recognition systems.
Such worries are not theoretical; The Washington Post recently reported 46 instances where law enforcement personnel allegedly misused Flock’s technology for unsanctioned reasons, such as tracking former partners.
Following an interview with a reported victim, Langley expressed to CBS News, “I apologize. It kills me that she went through that.” Concurrently, he maintained, “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 how the data center controversy has gained significant traction across the political spectrum, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have started to criticize Flock.
From the left, Democratic Senate candidate for Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, recently criticized Mike Rogers for backing the “mass proliferation of Flock cameras, any and everywhere, watching your every move to collect information without you even noticing.” Additionally, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, “STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE. STOP FLOCK.”
Conversely, three Republican representatives in the House recently proposed legislation to ban federal acquisition of automated surveillance systems, encompassing facial recognition, biometric identification, or license plate recognition technologies, specifically mentioning “a Flock Safety camera.”
In response to critiques, Flock has implemented certain modifications, such as shortening the default data retention from 30 to seven days and mandating a case code for data access. However, these adjustments are not absolute; law enforcement can extend data storage via a feature termed ‘Evidence Mode.’
The American Civil Liberties Union, in its statement regarding Flock’s announced updates, remarked, “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 advocated for state regulators to “pass bills that make [the illegal use of Flock data] a criminal offense.” Furthermore, during his Fox News discussion, he highlighted the company’s recent changes and asserted, “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.”
TechCrunch plans to address these topics with Langley during his upcoming appearance at our Disrupt conference in October.