Flock boss admits surveillance firm took too long to act over police abuse
Summary
Flock, a US company that provides surveillance technology like cameras and license plate readers, is adding new rules to stop police from misusing its tools. The company's CEO, Garrett Langley, admitted these protections should have been in place earlier and said police misuse has caused many cities to cut ties with Flock.Key Facts
- Flock's technology has been used by police to track romantic partners, strangers, stolen cars, and missing people.
- Police misuse of Flock’s tools has led to public complaints and some officers losing their jobs.
- Flock is reducing data storage time from 30 days to 7 days to protect privacy.
- Abnormal or unusual searches of the data will now be automatically flagged by the system.
- Over 50 cities stopped using Flock this year because of privacy concerns, but 16 cities have recently rejoined.
- The CEO agrees police should need an official case number to access Flock’s data, supporting privacy groups’ demands.
- The company defends its technology as important for fighting crime and improving police work.
- There is currently no nationwide law in the US governing how personal data collected by such technology is used or protected.
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