Texas Governor Greg Abbott Freezes State Spending on Flock AI Surveillance Cameras Amid Growing Backlash

As backlash grows over Flock’s AI surveillance cameras, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has frozen state spending on them. The move came just ahead of the publication of a Texas Tribune investigation that revealed the state spent over $30 million on Flock cameras. That money was primarily raised by tacking a $1 fee onto insurance policies, allegedly to help fight catalytic converter theft.

Flock cameras have increasingly drawn ire from across the political spectrum as they’ve become the subject of privacy concerns. There have been multiple incidents of officers being placed on leave or criminally charged for misusing Flock systems, including at least six in Texas alone. The company has also come under scrutiny for its data-sharing, the placement of some of its cameras near playgrounds, its own employees’ access to video feeds, unsecured video feeds, and its ham-fisted attempts to avoid transparency.

In recent months, cities around the country have been canceling their contracts with Flock, including many in Texas. Abbott’s Democratic opponent in the race for governor, Gina Hinojosa, has criticized him for expanding use of the cameras in the state. And Republican representative Keith Self recently posted on Instagram that, “From Flock cameras to kill switches, we will NOT surrender our Fourth Amendment rights to the growing surveillance state.” Cheering on the destruction of Flock cameras has even become a unifying pastime on the internet.