Flock CEO Garrett Langley has stated that the controversial surveillance company would "immediately" stop partnering with any clients who abused its systems, including law enforcement agencies. However, he also claimed that Flock has not yet found any cause to do so, arguing that all incidents thus far have been the fault of a small number of bad actors within organisations.
Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday, Langley attempted to allay widespread concerns that Flock could be facilitating mass surveillance and violations of privacy. There have been multiple instances of U.S. law enforcement officials being charged with abusing Flock's system, using it to stalk, harass, and surveil people without just cause. However, Flock has not cancelled its partnerships with any clients, Langley taking the view that such incidents were due to individual actors within organisations.
"Most of the debate is nuanced into 'what if two officers out of 50 were caught?'" said Langley. "Today, we haven't fired any customers, but it's not off the table in the case of some pretty drastic law-abiding issue."
According to the public interest law firm Institute for Justice, there have been over 240 incidents of U.S. law enforcement abusing automated license plate readers such as Flock's since 2021. Many cases involve officers tracking women or former partners.
S. federal judge found earlier this month that an officer conducted an unconstitutional warrantless search of a driver after using Flock cameras to track their recent movements. Flock appeared to stand by the officer's use of its technology, a spokesperson stating that they expected the ruling would be appealed and overturned.
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