The story so far: The head of Flock, a surveillance camera maker-operator that works with a range of clients in the U.S., issued an apology this month after the Washington Post reported that multiple law enforcement officers had abused his product network, with at least one case involving an officer who misused Flock to stalk his ex-partner through her car’s license plates.
Across the U.S., anger is mounting against the surveillance camera firm, with critics going so far as to disrupt or even destroy the Flock cameras in their communities.
How do Flock cameras work?
Flock products include license plate reader (LPR) cameras, video cameras, mobile security trailers, audio detection devices, drones, and software offerings. Instead of just buying and using a single camera, clients can join the Flock network and enable (optional) law enforcement access. Founded in 2017, Flock developed its business with the help of a two-way strategy: the sale of surveillance hardware, as well as surveillance-as-a-service subscriptions.
What caused the backlash against Flock cameras?
In recent weeks, protesters have expressed their anger against Flock by blocking cameras, reporting them to DeFlock in order to map them, pressuring clients to end their Flock contracts, or even destroying Flock cameras. Meanwhile, the use of CCTV cameras by both police departments and private citizens is rampant, but these surveillance efforts are fragmented. Unlike with Flock, it is hard to share private camera feeds with the police in real time and derive useful insights from the data. Since they are owned by everyday users rather than leased by a dedicated company, these surveillance cameras are often unreliable and poorly maintained.
For example, a trending Instagram Reel with over 2 million views and 269,000 likes taught watchers how to dismantle a Flock camera without being detected by other cameras.
