Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley Urges U.S. Compromise Between Privacy And Safety After Police Misuse

Flock CEO Seeks Compromise

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley urged the United States to seek a “compromise” between privacy and safety in an interview with Fox News, arguing that “When people talk about just one of these, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing.” Langley’s remarks came as the Washington Post investigation described a network of license-plate-reading cameras marketed in America as a crime-fighting tool, but used by some officers for “stalking, harassment, and personal surveillance.” The Al-Jazirah Net account says the company’s FLOK system was present in 46 of the cases analyzed, and that the newspaper found at least 50 officers accused or charged with misusing license-plate reading systems for unauthorized purposes.

In the same reporting, Langley also pointed to changes including seven-day data retention limits and accountability measures, while the Fox News account frames the debate as a pushback against neighborhood surveillance cameras and automated license plate readers. The controversy has also been tied to a lack of federal regulation, with the Al-Jazirah Net account saying the absence of a federal law left about 18,000 police agencies facing a wide mix of local rules and state laws.

Reporting for this sectionFox NewsAl-Jazirah Net

Misuse Allegations and Oversight

The Washington Post examination described how the risk of license-plate readers extends beyond knowing where a car passes, because the systems can “map the rhythm of daily life: the usual routes, appointments, visits, and small movements.” Al-Jazirah Net reports that the paper found at least 50 officers accused or charged with misusing license-plate reading systems for unauthorized purposes, including pursuing women without their knowledge or consent. In one example, the Al-Jazirah Net account says an officer did not need a court warrant to run a search, and that “it suffices to obtain login data from their departments and then enter the license plate number.”

The Fox News account adds that residents have taken concerns directly to cameras, including Carl Gunn telling Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl, “My biggest concern is I don’t want people to know where I go and when I go.” Meanwhile, the Al-Jazirah Net account describes how oversight gaps left police departments with a wide margin in activating privacy-important settings to curb misuse, while many departments limited supervision of searches by their own personnel.

Reporting for this sectionAl-Jazirah NetFox News

Policy Pressure and Company Changes

Political scrutiny has intensified across party lines, with the Al-Jazirah Net account saying the absence of a federal law left about 18,000 police agencies facing a wide mix of local rules and state laws.

The Al-Jazirah Net account also reports that the Police Project at New York University School of Law said 13 states enacted laws requiring police departments to audit the use of these systems, while at least eight states criminalized misuse.

In response to criticism, Flock has made operational changes, including reducing default data retention from 30 days to seven days and requiring a case code for data access, but the TechCrunch account says these changes can be overridden using an “Evidence Mode” setting.

TechCrunch further reports that the ACLU said the proposal may be a step in the right direction, but that “whether this is a real change or just another Flock PR move” depends on how Evidence Mode operates.

At the same time, Langley told Fox News that “Today, it is too often that in Flock and in other technologies, there’s no regulation. There’s no accountability,” and he called on state regulators to focus on holding law enforcement accountable rather than banning the technology outright.

Reporting for this sectionTechCrunchFox News