Flock CEO apologizes for cases where surveillance technology was abused as company rolls out changes

The CEO of surveillance technology company Flock Safety apologized Thursday for instances where its data was misused by law enforcement officers and discussed changes the company is rolling out to its systems.

Following a Washington Post report that police officers were accused in 46 cases of improperly using access to Flock’s license plate camera network, in some instances allegedly stalking women, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said he had listened to one woman’s interview Thursday morning.

“I apologize,” Langley said in an interview with CBS News. “It kills me that she went through that.”

Asked if he took enough responsibility soon enough when it came to the accusations of abuses, Langley said hindsight is “a brutal tool.”

“Hindsight tends to be very clear,” he said. “And I think, of course, we could have done more earlier, and we listen, and we learn, and we’ll continue to move forward because until everyone has an equal level of safety in this country, we have work to do.”

Langley still defended his company and the service it provides law enforcement agencies with its network of 120,000 cameras around the country that record license plate numbers and other details from vehicles that pass by.

“It gets to this issue that when you are given power, which many people are, particularly in law enforcement, you should have higher standards of accountability,” Langley said. “And so, I don’t think that Flock created police abuse. I think we’re the first company to ever shine a light on it and build the tools to find it.”

Among the changes the company announced Thursday, Flock is reducing the default period of time data will be retained from 30 days to 7 days. However, if data is tied to an investigation that needs more time, it can be preserved in a setting it calls “Evidence Mode.”

The company also said every search of its data will now require a case code to be entered beforehand. But that can be overridden in an emergency, like if a child goes missing.

Flock’s customers can also limit which types of offenses outside agencies can search for on its cameras, like homicide, arson or assault, the company said.

By the end of the year, all of Flock’s law enforcement customers will also have to turn on a tool that aims to flag abnormal search behavior and lock out people until the searches are reviewed by an administrator. The company says about a third of agencies have already turned on the tool, which rolled out earlier this year.

The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized Flock, accusing the company of violating people’s privacy rights. In a statement Thursday, the ACLU said the company’s plan to reduce how long data is retained “may be a step in the right direction.”

“Whether this is a real change or just another Flock PR move, however, will depend on how its ‘Evidence Mode’ operates,” the ACLU said.

In the CBS News interview, Langley was asked if he had a message to any officer who was considering using Flock to follow someone who’s not part of an investigation.

“You will get caught, plain and simple. If you try to use this tool illegally, you will get caught,” he said. “And I hope that state regulators pass bills that make that a criminal offense. It should not just be a termination. It should be a criminal offense if you abuse your power.”