Flock CEO's Address Leaked Amid Backlash Over Surveillance Technology

Flock CEO's address was leaked online after he urged Americans to choose a compromise between privacy and safety.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley emerged as the most controversial personality of this month as his surveillance technology company is facing massive backlash because of the huge scope of misuse of the technology. It is not confirmed whether the address shared online is Langley's real address. Many social media users shared a screenshot of a blurred Google map and claimed that Langley got his house blurred on Google map while asking Americans to compromise on privacy.

What is the controversy over Flock cameras?

Flock, according to the company, is designed to help authorized users find relevant evidence for investigations without compromising safety and compliance. Flock cameras can read license plates and they can record and analyze everything that passes them. But instances of misusing this technology are plenty. A Kentucky police officer was arrested after authorities said he used the Flock Safety license plate reader camera system to track his ex-girlfriend over 2,000 times. Protesters vandalized these traffic cameras as people are waking up to the threat of the new tech and some cities have canceled their Flock contracts. Langley acknowledged the initial loopholes and said they were working on it, but Americans must compromise on their compromise when it is a question of safety, he said. “When people talk about just one of these, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing, and what we have to prioritize as a country is compromise,” Langley said in the interview. “How do we have our safety, and how do we balance privacy?” "I value my privacy. My family values their privacy. My employees value their privacy. But what we are talking about is safety as well," he said adding that cars have never been banned because they cause accidents.

Senator launches investigation into Flock

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, has launched an investigation into Flock Safety’s national surveillance network and is demanding to know who has access to the personal data of Americans captured on Flock cameras. “The overwhelming majority of Americans captured in those records did nothing wrong. Instead of serving discrete local investigations, as contemplated by our constitutional processes and safeguards, these camera networks harness artificial intelligence to pool what they capture into a national database that customers can search,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Flock CEO.