Flock Safety Tightens Privacy Rules
Is Flock a vital crime-fighting tool or an unaccountable surveillance dragnet ripe for abuse?
Above: A Flock license plate reader and camera in Pleasant Hill, California, on April 16. Image credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Flock cameras track every driver, every day, whether or not anyone did anything wrong, turning ordinary trips into government surveillance data. Deputies and police chiefs have abused these databases to stalk exes, track women seeking abortion care and harass innocent people. This is a dragnet that cannot be reformed, only rejected.
Narrative B
Flock never gets credit for the missing persons found or crimes solved, something the system is amazingly powerful at. Social media misinformation necessitates the company clarifying what this game-changing technology actually does. Flock doesn't own the data collected and most law enforcement agencies use the technology responsibly. Flock is an invaluable law enforcement tool.