Flock says its new tool will help identify police abuse, but hasn’t explained how it works
Flock Safety, which sells license plate reader and surveillance tools to law enforcement agencies, announced it is making a new feature called 'Audit Assistance' mandatory for all customers, saying it has already helped identify officer misconduct. The company has not publicly explained how the tool works or what metrics it uses to flag potential abuse.
Why this matters: Flock's cameras are already in hundreds of cities, tracking millions of vehicles. Now the company is also positioning itself as the watchdog for how police use its own product. That is a conflict worth paying attention to. A vendor deciding what counts as abuse, using a method it has not explained, is not the same as independent oversight. The people most affected by surveillance are also the least likely to know whether this tool helps or just makes Flock look responsible without adding real accountability.
Who should care: Privacy officers · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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