Flock CEO responds to abuses of its surveillance technology

Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety, issued an apology on Thursday for instances where its surveillance technology was improperly utilized by law enforcement officers. Following a Washington Post report alleging 46 cases of misuse, Langley expressed his remorse in an interview with CBS News, stating, "It kills me that she went through that." He acknowledged that hindsight often reveals clear mistakes and pledged to learn from past errors to improve future practices.

Langley defended Flock's role in law enforcement, emphasizing the company's responsibility to set higher standards of accountability. He maintained that Flock did not create police abuse but was instrumental in exposing it and developing tools to detect such misconduct. The company announced several changes, including reducing the default data retention period from 30 days to seven days.

However, data can be preserved in "Evidence Mode" if tied to an ongoing investigation. Every data search will now require a case code, which can be overridden in emergencies, such as missing persons cases.

Flock's customers can also restrict searches to specific types of offenses, like homicide or assault, when granting access to external agencies. By year-end, all law enforcement customers will be required to enable a feature that flags unusual search behavior, pending review by an administrator. Langley warned against illegal use of Flock's tools, stating that anyone attempting such misuse would be caught and that any abuse of power should be treated as a criminal offense.