Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley has called for a balance between privacy and public safety as his company faces growing criticism over its surveillance technology, including reports of Flock cameras being vandalised across the US. Garrett Langley said the debate should not focus on privacy or safety alone, arguing that the country needs to find a compromise between the two. His comments come as concerns grow over how Flock’s cameras, drones and license plate recognition technology could be used by law enforcement and other agencies.“When people talk about just one of these, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing, and what we have to prioritize as a country is compromise,” Garrett Langley said during a recent interview with Fox News. “How do we have our safety, and how do we balance privacy?”
Flock Safety faces growing privacy concerns
Flock Safety has faced increasing scrutiny over its surveillance technology. Critics have raised concerns that the company’s cameras and data could be misused. The concerns have also been linked to alleged cases of improper use by police officers. The Washington Post recently identified 46 cases in which police officers were accused of using Flock technology without authorization, including allegations involving the stalking of wives, girlfriends or former partners.After hearing from one of the alleged victims, Langley told CBS News, “I apologize. It kills me that she went through that.”However, he also defended the company’s role in identifying misuse. “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,” he said.
How Flock responded
Flock has responded by reducing its default data retention period from 30 days to seven days and requiring a case code before users can access data. However, these settings can be overridden in certain situations, including through a feature called Evidence Mode.Langley has also called for stronger rules around illegal use of surveillance data. “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,” he said.
