Flock Safety Mandates Privacy Safeguards After Police Misuse

Surveillance technology company Flock Safety announced new mandatory platform safeguards on Thursday to combat documented police misuse and privacy concerns. The company will reduce its default data retention window from 30 days to seven and introduce Audit Assistance, a tool designed to flag abnormal search behavior and lock out users pending review.

Under the new rules, law enforcement users must enter a case number from their records management system to justify searches, except in emergencies where activity will be flagged for administrator review. Agencies can also now restrict the types of offenses for which outside jurisdictions may search their data. These measures follow reports that Flock cameras were involved in 46 of at least 50 cases where officers were accused of misusing license-plate-reader systems, including instances of stalking. The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department recently fired six employees for using the tool to search for friends and family.

CEO Garrett Langley stated the updates drive accountability, though he noted the company's annual revenue run rate grew to $500 million in June, fueled by drones and mobile trailers. Civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, dismissed the reforms as inadequate or window dressing. The company faces further pressure after documented misread plates led to innocent drivers being stopped at gunpoint or jailed.