Flock CEO Calls for Balance Between Privacy and Safety Amid Backlash

The CEO of Flock Safety, Garrett Langley, has called for a compromise between privacy and safety in the face of growing public outcry over the company's surveillance technology.

Garrett Langley made the comments during a recent interview with Fox News, where he emphasized the need to balance safety with privacy concerns.

Langley's company, Flock Safety, has been at the center of controversy over its use of surveillance cameras, drones, and license plate recognition technology.

The Washington Post recently identified 46 cases where police officers have been accused of using Flock technology for unauthorized purposes, including to stalk their wives, girlfriends, or exes.

According to the Washington Post, these concerns are not hypothetical.

Flock Safety has made some changes in response to the criticism, reducing the default data retention time from 30 days to seven days and requiring that a case code be entered before accessing data.

However, both of these changes can be overridden by police, who can save data for a longer time period by using a setting called Evidence Mode.

The American Civil Liberties Union has responded to Flock's announced changes, saying that while they may be a step in the right direction, it is unclear whether they are a real change or just another Flock PR move.

Langley has also called for state regulators to pass bills that make the illegal use of Flock data a criminal offense.

Langley pointed to the changes the company has already made, while also saying that there is a need for regulation and accountability in the use of surveillance technology.

Langley is set to appear on-stage at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference in October, where he will be asked about these issues.

Langley has apologized for the misuse of Flock technology, saying "I apologize. It kills me that she went through that."

However, he has also insisted that Flock did not create police abuse, but rather shone a light on it and built tools to find it.

Politicians from both the left and the right have begun to take aim at Flock, with Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accusing his opponent Mike Rogers of supporting "this mass proliferation of Flock cameras, any and everywhere, watching your every move to collect information without you even noticing."

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has also posted, "STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE. STOP FLOCK."

Three House Republicans have introduced a bill that would prohibit the federal government from purchasing automated surveillance systems that use facial recognition, biometric IDs, or license plate recognition, "including a Flock Safety camera."

Flock has already made some changes in response to the criticism, but it remains to be seen whether these changes will be enough to address the growing concerns over the company's surveillance technology.