Flock shock rocks cop cam vendor as protests mount

A mishap involving a Darth Vader costume at a city council meeting has not bolstered Flock's standing. Across the United States, citizens have been demonstrating and occasionally damaging the company's network of surveillance cameras. This advocacy has prompted some governments to reconsider their use of mass surveillance. US Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) has written to Flock CEO Garrett Langley, informing him of an investigation into the company's data collection, retention, and dissemination practices by its artificial intelligence cameras.

Despite Darth Vader's remarks advocating for continued Flock technologies at a San Diego City Council meeting, more local governments in the US are canceling or declining to renew contracts with Flock and other automated license plate reader (ALPR) providers. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a Virginia-based legal advocacy non-profit, has published a database documenting the termination of 93 local government ALPR contracts.

The IJ is currently challenging ALPR use on Fourth Amendment grounds in Norfolk, Virginia and San Jose, California. The organization attributes the surge in cancellations and public protests to increased awareness of mass surveillance and the Supreme Court's recent decision in the geofence case, which ruled that law enforcement must obtain a warrant to access location data.

Flock's cameras capture license plate information, geodata, and potentially images of individuals, which can be combined with other data, effectively subjecting all passersby to constant surveillance without a warrant. The organization believes that warrant requirements and judicial oversight are necessary to prevent misuse of ALPRs, particularly by bored officers who might use the technology to target individuals or engage in political protests.