Flock CEO outlines new privacy plan amid backlash

Our Take

CBS News sat down with Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley as he apologized for cases where ALPR data was misused — a remarkable moment for a company that built its growth story on telling cities these cameras were purely about solving crime. When a CEO goes on national TV to say sorry, that's not a sign the system is working as designed; it's a sign the backlash finally got too loud to spin away.

Here's the thing to watch: an apology and a 'privacy plan' are words, not controls. Flock's entire business model runs on networked cameras feeding a national lookup system that police departments, and sometimes agencies far outside their jurisdiction, can query. No press conference changes the fact that your plate data is being logged, shared, and retained by default unless a community pushes back hard enough to force limits. Promises of reform mean nothing without public audit logs, hard retention caps, and real consequences for misuse — not just a mea culpa after reporters start asking questions.

We'll believe it when the policy language is public, specific, and enforceable — not before. Until then, the burden is on residents to know what's watching them. Check our camera map to see if Flock has already rolled into your town, and if you want to push back, our take-action guide walks you through what to say at the next city council meeting.