Flock tightens safeguards after police misuse allegations

Flock Safety’s chief executive apologized Thursday after reports that police officers used the company’s license-plate camera network to stalk or harass women, while the surveillance technology firm announced new limits on how law enforcement can search and store its data.

The changes follow a Washington Post investigation that found at least 46 law enforcement officers across the United States had been accused of improperly using access to Flock’s automatic license-plate readers for unauthorized tracking, including cases involving wives, girlfriends and former partners.

“I apologize,” Flock CEO Garrett Langley said in an interview with CBS News after listening to one woman describe her experience. “It kills me that she went through that.”

Asked whether he took responsibility quickly enough, Langley said hindsight is “a brutal tool.”

“Hindsight tends to be very clear,” he said. “And I think, of course, we could have done more earlier, and we listen, and we learn, and we’ll continue to move forward because until everyone has an equal level of safety in this country, we have work to do.”

Flock, based in Atlanta, operates about 120,000 cameras across the U.S. that capture vehicle images, license plate numbers and other details, storing them in a searchable database. The company markets the system as a crime-fighting tool for law enforcement agencies and private groups such as neighborhood watch committees. Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have accused Flock of enabling mass surveillance with too little oversight.

Langley defended the company’s broader role while acknowledging the need for stronger safeguards.

“It gets to this issue that when you are given power, which many people are, particularly in law enforcement, you should have higher standards of accountability,” he told CBS News. “And so, I don’t think that Flock created police abuse. I think we’re the first company to ever shine a light on it and build the tools to find it.”

Under the changes announced Thursday, Flock is reducing its recommended default data retention period from 30 days to seven days. Data connected to an investigation that requires more time can be preserved through a setting the company calls “Evidence Mode,” which it described as intended for exceptional cases.

The company also said law enforcement searches will require a case code before they can proceed, though CBS News reported that the requirement can be overridden in emergencies, such as when a child is missing. Al Jazeera reported that Flock said case codes will be required for all law enforcement searches by the end of 2026.

Flock said agencies will be able to apply offense-based filters limiting which searches outside agencies can run against their cameras. “Cities can choose which type of offences are permissible for other agencies to access their cameras,” the company said, according to Al Jazeera. “For example, City A could allow City B to search its cameras only for a stolen vehicle, missing person, or violent crime while blocking searches related to immigration enforcement.”

The company also plans to require all law enforcement customers to use an audit tool that records searches, flags abnormal activity and locks out users until an administrator reviews the conduct. CBS News reported that about one-third of agencies have already enabled the feature, which was introduced earlier this year, and that all law enforcement customers must turn it on by the end of the year.

The ACLU said the shorter data retention period “may be a step in the right direction,” but questioned whether the reforms would be meaningful. “Whether this is a real change or just another Flock PR move, however, will depend on how its ‘Evidence Mode’ operates,” the group said. In a separate statement reported by Al Jazeera, the ACLU said most of the other changes appeared to be “treating legitimate privacy concerns as mere public relations problems.”

Langley warned officers against using the system outside legitimate investigations.

“You will get caught, plain and simple,” he said. “If you try to use this tool illegally, you will get caught. And I hope that state regulators pass bills that make that a criminal offense. It should not just be a termination. It should be a criminal offense if you abuse your power.”