For much of the last year, security cameras sold by the tech firm Flock Safety have been blacked out, painted over, even wrapped in trash bags. Roundly criticized for ushering in high-tech surveillance, the company’s automated license plate readers (ALPRs) have not only been broken, but banned by cities across the nation. 

However, at the same time the ALPR backlash has been brewing, a contributor to financial challenges for the company, Flock has seen a different part of its business literally take flight. 

The company’s line of drones has become a key part of its current revenue and sales pitch. Flock founder and CEO Garrett Langley told the All-In Podcast in September that drone tech is the company’s “fastest-growing business unit right now.”

Founded in 2017, Flock is valued at $8.4 billion. Langley said drone tech is set to account for nearly half of its future revenue. At one point, the company was in negotiations to supply drones to police in Chula Vista, California, the San Diego suburb that has been on the forefront of drone policing. 

While local law enforcement often praise the technology—the San Francisco police hold up the tech as a key aspect in a recent drop in the crime rate—the increasing deployments of drones are worrying civil rights advocates about the balance of privacy versus security.

“The public conversation hasn’t caught up to how much of a problem drones are at this point,” says Beryl Lipton, senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Freedom Foundation.

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