Flock Safety Announces Privacy Overhaul Amid Backlash
Flock Safety, the operator of AI-driven surveillance cameras, revealed on Thursday that it will implement significant changes to its privacy and security policies, responding to a surge of criticism from consumers and instances of misuse by law enforcement.
As opposition to its Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) network continues to intensify, Flock laid out new reforms. These include enhanced privacy safeguards, increased control for local police departments, and more stringent accountability measures.
To start, the company is cutting its standard data retention period from 30 days down to just 7 days. Previously, data collected from over 119,000 cameras across the nation was stored for a month. Flock announced that going forward, all data will only be held on its servers for a week.
While law enforcement often argues that Flock’s system is crucial for catching criminals, the company noted that 90% of searches using its technology happen within a week. This suggests that its new privacy measures align with the needs of law enforcement.
For agencies that require extended investigation times, Flock introduced a feature called Evidence Mode, permitting them to retain data longer in accordance with local and state regulations.
Additionally, the company will allow government agencies the discretion to determine the types of crime data shared with other municipalities. For instance, one city might choose to ignore immigration-related searches while another might focus exclusively on vehicle thefts and violent crimes.
Flock has faced heavy criticism from privacy advocates and concerned citizens for maintaining extensive data storage. In an ongoing discussion about Flock’s cameras, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and others have called for a national pause on their deployment.
Organizations like the ACLU have voiced strong objections as well. They claimed that Flock’s recent reforms appear more like superficial public relations efforts rather than genuine attempts to tackle the community’s serious privacy concerns regarding mass surveillance.
The criticism has been compounded by reports of police misuse of the technology. Flock’s reforms are intended to prevent any such abuse proactively. An updated feature, called Audit Assistance, is designed to flag unusual search patterns. This was previously optional but is now mandatory for all law enforcement clients. The system will suspend users in real-time if it detects anomalous behavior until an administrator verifies the search.
Furthermore, Flock is requiring all future searches to include a justifiable reason. A case code requirement, introduced in July 2025, has now evolved; while the new reforms will insist on incident codes for searches, exceptions will apply for genuine emergencies like missing children.
Flock insists that “unreasonable searches”—those that shouldn’t have occurred—are now automatically categorized as such by their system.
Despite ongoing public concerns, Flock points to its achievements, claiming it helped locate around 10,000 missing individuals during a million investigations last year using its technology.
