Critics of Flock Safety are circulating an address they say belongs to company founder and CEO Garrett Langley, marking an escalation in the widespread backlash the surveillance technology company is facing amid concerns over privacy and potential police misuse. Numerous posts sharing an address purportedly belonging to Langley have circulated on X, with many users responding to a viral post that quoted Langley as saying Americans must “compromise” on their privacy. Some shared what they said was a blurred image of Langley’s home on Google Street View, with one X user saying the “compromise apparently doesn’t apply to him.” Newsweek has not verified the address and is not publishing or linking to it.
Newsweek has contacted Langley for comment via an email to Flock Safety. The renewed attention came after Langley recently appeared on Fox News’ Saturday in America, where he called for a “compromise” between public safety and privacy. The company operates a vast nationwide network of automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
The technology is used by thousands of law enforcement agencies in 49 states, allowing officers to search and share data across jurisdictions to assist investigations. Backers of the technology say it helps solve crimes and locate missing people, but critics argue that it enables mass surveillance and creates opportunities for misuse. More than 50 cities and towns have deactivated, rejected or canceled Flock contracts since the beginning of the year, according to a tally by DeFlock, a grassroots group formed to track the use of the technology.
Langley has given a series of interviews to news outlets as his company faces scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties, civil liberties advocates and citizens across the country. He told Newsweek this month that transparency and accountability are central to the company's approach. Flock's "end goal isn’t a dystopian future of surveillance; it’s one where we all feel safe," he said.
When asked if Flock's technology is pushing the U.S. toward a dystopian "big brother" society, Langley responded: "No, I don’t think so," adding, "I’m a father of three little kids..., I pay my taxes, like I’m a pretty normal person. I have the same types of anxieties of like, where's the world going? What are we setting up for?" In the recent interview with Fox News, he also stressed that the company is focused on ensuring its technology is used for good.
"Today, it is too often that in Flock and in other technologies, there's no regulation. There's no accountability, and we think that's wrong," he said. "We announced changes that required auditing, that required using our audit assistance tool, which detects abnormal behavior, and we're calling on state regulators to focus less on banning this type of technology and more [on] holding our law enforcement community accountable.” The Washington Post reported this month that it had identified nearly 50 instances of police officers charged or accused of using Flock’s system for unauthorized purposes, including stalking current or former romantic partners or family members.
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