Protests grow over Flock camera use in communities
The short version: Growing public protests over Flock ALPR misuse—including officers stalking exes—show the backlash to blanket surveillance is finally breaking into the mainstream.
Our Take
Credit to RickieBobbieNO26 for flagging this one: CBS News' Anna Schecter sat down with Flock CEO Garrett Langley as communities across the country start pushing back on these camera networks. This isn't fringe anymore. When local protests make national news, it means ordinary people are connecting the dots between "safety tech" and actual harm.
The stalking allegations are exactly the nightmare scenario critics have been warning about for years. A database that logs every car's movement doesn't stay locked to "solving crimes." It becomes a tool for whoever has access and a grudge — an officer tracking an ex-wife, a cop checking up on a girlfriend. Flock's business model depends on trust that the data won't be abused, and every one of these stories chips away at that trust. CEOs doing damage control on national television is a sign the company knows it has a real problem, not just a PR one.
This is why local oversight fights matter so much. If your town hasn't had a public vote on whether to install these cameras, or doesn't have hard limits on who can query the data and why, you're trusting a corporation's PR promises over enforceable policy. Check our map to see what's already watching your streets, and hit up take action for tools to push your city council on audits and accountability.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of RickieBobbieNO26, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.