Flock Safety faces lawsuits and backlash over AI surveillance privacy

Flock Safety, a provider of AI-powered automated license plate readers, is facing increasing legal and social opposition regarding privacy and data sharing practices. A class action lawsuit filed by the law firm Gibbs Mura alleges the company tracked the movements of millions of Californians and illegally shared that data with out-of-state law enforcement agencies, violating state privacy laws.

This legal action follows a previous lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against the City of El Cajon for similar data-sharing violations. Additionally, concerns have been raised regarding federal agency access to data through back-end features.

In New Mexico, the controversy has manifested in physical confrontations. After the Bernalillo County Sheriff moved to terminate contracts with Flock Safety due to privacy concerns, a man was arrested after filming himself removing the company's camera equipment. Meanwhile, Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley has defended the technology, stating the system has assisted in solving over one million crimes and locating 10,000 missing persons.