Benn Jordan Testifies on Flock Safety as Surveillance Backlash Grows

The fallout for Flock has been substantial. Hundreds of cities, counties and other local governments have begun canceling contracts, and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is investigating the company. Last week, Reuters reported that Flock plans to cut about 18 percent of its workforce.

Jordan said he does not hate Flock as a company. In the interview, he described its posture toward critics as a colossal PR failure that made it an easy target, while competitors such as Axon and Motorola quietly build similar networks. He said he now talks to Flock directly, including to CEO Garrett Langley, and reports security vulnerabilities to the company when he finds them. He described that outreach as an olive branch and part of a goal of working toward real, tangible solutions to surveillance overreach rather than a crusade to tear down one company.

A central theme in his work, he said, is that Flock and other high-profile names in surveillance are only part of the problem. The larger issue is the interlocking relationship between private industry, government and law enforcement that prioritizes secrecy over transparency. He said the public never voted for an insecure network of cameras on every street corner, and is not being asked whether it is comfortable with access to that network being given to police officers with a penchant for abusing it.

Jordan sees his YouTube work and collaboration with other researchers, civil rights groups and journalists as an accountability function that forces the conversation to the forefront. So far, he said, it is working. The Decoder interview also noted that Flock CEO Garrett Langley has been invited to appear on the show.

Jordan's path to the issue began in Atlanta, where he lives and where Flock cameras are more numerous per square mile than anywhere else, according to the interview. About two years ago, he started noticing the cameras and initially thought they were traffic cameras. He then looked into what they actually did and began examining issues such as security vulnerabilities. Much of what is now in the news, he said, has to do with people realizing the cameras existed all along. His current focus includes what he describes as a lack of transparency from government, because companies will always try to make money, especially from taxpayer funds.