Flock Safety Under Fire: Bipartisan Lawmakers Target License Plate Surveillance Amid Abuse Reports

Flock Safety, the Atlanta-based surveillance company behind a growing network of license plate recognition cameras and drones deployed by law enforcement agencies nationwide, is under increasing pressure from lawmakers, civil liberties advocates, and the public after a wave of documented abuse cases came to light. CEO Garrett Langley has spent recent weeks making the media rounds — including a Fox News appearance — arguing that the country needs a 'compromise' between privacy protections and public safety rather than treating them as opposing values. His central pitch is that surveillance technology can coexist with civil liberties if properly regulated.

The scrutiny intensified after The Washington Post identified 46 cases in which police officers were accused of misusing Flock's technology for unauthorized purposes, including tracking current or former romantic partners. Langley addressed one victim's account in a CBS News interview, expressing personal regret while also asserting that Flock did not create police misconduct but rather became the first company to surface it through its own audit tools. That framing has not satisfied critics who see the platform itself as enabling the behavior.

The political pushback has arrived from both ends of the spectrum. Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed accused his Republican opponent Mike Rogers of supporting mass proliferation of Flock cameras, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders posted a direct call on social media to 'STOP AI MASS SURVEILLANCE. STOP FLOCK.' Simultaneously, three House Republicans introduced legislation that would bar the federal government from purchasing automated surveillance systems using facial recognition, biometric identification, or license plate recognition technology — explicitly naming Flock Safety cameras.

In response to the mounting criticism, Flock has implemented some adjustments: the default data retention period was shortened from 30 days to seven days, and officers must now enter a case code before accessing stored data. However, both restrictions can be bypassed. Police can extend data retention through a feature called Evidence Mode, a loophole the American Civil Liberties Union flagged in its response, noting that the value of any reforms hinges entirely on how that mode operates in practice.

Langley has called on state lawmakers to criminalize unauthorized use of Flock data, and during his Fox News interview acknowledged that accountability and oversight have been largely absent across the surveillance technology industry — not just at Flock. The company is set to face additional public questions when Langley appears on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in October, where he is expected to address the ongoing controversy directly.