Flock CEO’s Bold Changes Expose Local Leaders as Slow Learners, but Is Flock’s Move Too Little, Too Late?

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley announced major surveillance-system changes today. Several matter, and a few close doors that should never have opened. Together, they make him look more like a leader than the officials responsible for overseeing Flock’s local use.

Local officials could have required short retention, case numbers, automatic misuse detection and public audits before spending taxpayer money on Flock. Instead, they sat on their hands as the camera network grew.

The New Hanover sheriff recently cut local retention from 90 to 30 days and promised monthly audits. Some county commissioners have "concerns" and "raised eyebrows." Those milquetoast acknowledgements only came after public pressure and they still trail Flock’s new policies.

Flock’s Announcement Points

Privacy Changes

• Raven acoustic sensors will detect only gunshots, explosions and vehicle collisions. They will not identify voices, transcribe speech or allow spoken-word searches. Recordings last three seconds.
• Flock ended its pilot adding live video to license-plate readers. Plate readers will take still images only. Separate Flock cameras will record video.
• Default data retention will drop from 30 days to seven. Customers may choose longer or shorter retention periods.
• Images tied to active investigations may enter evidence mode and remain available as long as legally required.
• Customers own their data, Langley said, and Flock has never sold it. Flock uses less than 1% of images to improve its systems, according to Langley, after removing customer-identifying metadata.
• The company will publish a plain-English contract explanation next week.

Security Changes

• Langley acknowledged a December 2025 configuration failure that briefly exposed footage from some pan-tilt-zoom cameras. He said fewer than 0.05% of deployed cameras were affected. A vulnerability-disclosure program will let researchers formally report security flaws.
• Multifactor authentication is now mandatory.
• Flock hired Bishop Fox to conduct independent security testing and plans to publish a summary of its findings.

Accountability Changes

• Flock will continue promoting public transparency pages listing camera totals, retention policies, alert categories and data-sharing arrangements.
• Officers must verify alerts before stopping vehicles, Langley said.
• He cited company research claiming nine human-identified errors per million alerts and an Austin audit finding no improper stops among 13,122 matches.
• Flock pledged not to sell license-plate-reader data, add facial recognition to its devices or weaponize its drones.
• Flock’s Audit Assistance system will become mandatory for every customer. Users flagged for suspicious searches will be locked out pending review.
• By year’s end, law-enforcement searches must include case codes. Emergency overrides will trigger immediate review.
• Flock wants lawmakers to require audits, stiffen penalties and permanently decertify officers who misuse police databases. It wants competitors to require case codes, complete audit logs, automated misuse detection and human review.

Do the Changes Go Far Enough?

Seven-day retention, mandatory case codes and automatic lockouts can reduce harm, but they do not settle the larger issue: warrantless surveillance.

Police departments will still largely police themselves. Case numbers can be reused or falsified. Customers can keep data longer. Most searches will continue to require no warrant. The system continues to record the movements of millions of drivers who are not suspected of crimes.

The Associated Press reported that more than 50 agencies or jurisdictions have abandoned, suspended or rejected Flock arrangements this year. Local reporting shows North Carolina's expanding plate-reader surveillance. Nineteen New Hanover cameras recorded more than 35 million plates in roughly seven months.

Langley deserves some credit for confronting problems his company helped create. Southeastern North Carolina officials could have imposed many of these rules themselves. They still can. It is time to stop sitting on their hands and get their act together.