Flock surveillance backlash mounts as fiendish Halloween plans circulate

Flock, a surveillance technology company, has faced mounting backlash as sinister Halloween conspiracy theories circulate. The company's network of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) has faced previous criticism for mass surveillance and retaining location data of motorists who have not committed any offenses. After CEO Garrett Langley apologized for documented abuses involving his system, The Register reached out to Flock's media team regarding an online campaign to vandalize ALPRs during Halloween. The media team responded with an automated message, indicating they were currently unavailable.

Recent reports suggest ICE agents have accessed local police forces' Flock systems, while police officers have used the technology to stalk former partners. This, along with an increase in vandalism targeting the cameras, has fueled the De-Flock America campaign on social media. The campaign encourages participants to wear costumes, leave their smartphones at home, and disable ALPRs while concealing their identities.

X, a social media platform, has even created a dedicated trending story for the campaign, which received over 36,500 posts in two days.

Flock CEO Langley acknowledged the company's mistakes, expressing remorse over a woman being stalked using the ALPR system. Following the backlash, Flock announced several changes, including reducing its data retention period from 30 days to seven days, introducing an "Evidence Mode" for law enforcement, and requiring customers to enable the Audit Assistance feature by year-end.

The Audit Assistance tool detects unusual search activity and flags it for review, having been linked to arrests of several law enforcement officers who allegedly abused the system. Despite these changes, Flock has not yet addressed the growing concerns surrounding the De-Flock America campaign.