Flock Safety Cameras Draw Scrutiny After Wrongful Jailing, Stalking Case and Senate Pressure

The report said Isaacs described being placed in solitary confinement. “The cell door was shut, and it was not opened for approximately 86 hours,” she testified, according to the account. She was held for a total of 13 days, including the solitary stint.

A Flock spokesperson contacted for a CNN report argued the incident “appears to have been the result of human errors in judgment unrelated to Flock,” according to the Slashdot report. Isaacs is now suing the Florida patrol over her wrongful arrest. She partially blames two police officers who she says claimed there was incriminating damage on her vehicle when there was not. Her lawyer, however, said he blames Flock. “Because if it wasn’t for Flock we wouldn’t be here in the first place, and this whole nightmare … would not have kicked off,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer also pushed back on claims that Flock solves more crimes. “You would also solve a lot more crimes if the police were allowed to kick down your door and come in and search your house whenever they want to, or search your car whenever they want to or violate your rights in other ways,” the lawyer said. “There has to be safeguards in police that comport through the 4th Amendment, like the warrant requirements. It’s as simple as that. This technology is growing so fast that we are unable to control it. And we must get ahead of it.” Isaacs agreed. “I wouldn’t have went to jail if it wasn’t for Flock,” she said.

Florida was also the site of another Flock-related case reported by Slashdot. A Florida deputy was accused of using Flock cameras to stalk a 17-year-old girl, visiting her at work nine times. The officer was charged with official misconduct and accessing computer electronic devices without authority, both third-degree felonies. In Florida, if he is found guilty on both charges, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Americans have no idea who is looking at the information collected by such cameras or why it has to be collected in the first place. “They deserve to know,” Schumer said. He also said the company claimed the data on its cameras was encrypted and secure. “Then hackers took one down and found the key sitting right there,” Schumer said. “Most Americans just want to get to work and get home to their families without a private company keeping a file on where they go. The next step here is simple: turn the lens around and zoom in on Flock.”

Schumer demanded answers from Flock about how much data from its cameras sits on its servers and whether any federal agency has accessed that data, directly or through local law enforcement. His office sent an official letter to Flock’s CEO giving the company 12 days to respond to questions about its data retention and security policies. “Americans should not have to sacrifice their right to privacy simply by driving down a public street,” Schumer wrote.

In other news, Garrett Langley, the CEO of Flock Safety, a company that deploys over 120,000 automated license plate reader cameras across the United States, recently requested that his Atlanta home be blurred out on Google Maps Street View. Online activists quickly pinpointed the property and marked his front lawn as a “Public Toilet” on the mapping app, according to the report.