Flock Safety, which operates a network of cameras and other surveillance tools, has encountered public disdain over its existence. Amid lawsuits and privacy concerns raised by citizens, Flock Safety claims it has guardrails in place to make its technology ethically sound.
According to a Bloomberg report, Flock Safety says it plans to announce today (August 13) changes that will expand privacy protections for citizens and clamp down on abuse of its network.
One change of note is that the current default data retention setting will drop to 7 days instead of 30. Customers will also be able to select what offense types can be searched on Flock’s network.
Adding to this, searches of Flock data will now need a case code for justification of the search. Before this change, this was optional. Also, an audit log tracker of user activity will be an ongoing mandate. Flock will monitor search patterns for any misuse and block users from accessing its network while internal investigations of usage are underway.
Flock CEO Garrett Langley says of the company in an interview, “We’re not Big Brother. We’re focused on protecting people.”
Flock has come under fire in recent months due to reports of the abuse of the network’s license plate-reading technology. In response, the Los Angeles Police Department suspended its contract with Flock in July
Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union have also expressed direct concerns about the invasion of privacy and the abuse of the platform by both law enforcement and general users.
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Photo: Getty
