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COLUMNIST: America’s surveillance problem is much bigger than Flock
The company will cut default retention to seven days and add new audit tools as critics warn its camera network enables mass surveillance.
- On Thursday, Flock Safety announced it is shortening default data retention for its 120,000 cameras across the United States from 30 days to seven days, among other privacy-focused changes.
- Dozens of jurisdictions canceled contracts since 2025 after privacy concerns and misuse incidents, including a Milwaukee, Wisconsin case where two people were wrongly flagged for a homicide.
- Flock is implementing new abuse prevention techniques, including an expanded Audit Assistance tool that flags "abnormal activity" and Evidence Mode to preserve data for active investigations.
- Privacy advocates, including The ACLU, remain skeptical and are calling for tighter controls before authorities can query Flock's database, perhaps even a warrant requirement.
- Critics argue these measures fail to address the fundamental issue of mass surveillance, risking creation of "a virtual panopticon with which to scrutinize its citizens.
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America’s surveillance problem is much bigger than Flock
“You are being watched” was the tagline that opened every episode of the television series Person of Interest, which ran from 2011 to 2016 and already feels ancient. The conceit of the show was that the good guys, aided by…
·Gloucester, United States
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Journal Gazette & Times-Courier+5 Reposted by 5 other sources
Our surveillance problem is much bigger than Flock
'You are being watched" was the tagline that opened every episode of the television series "Person of Interest," which ran from 2011 to 2016 and already feels ancient. The conceit of the show was that the good guys, aided by…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources11
Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution73% Center
Bias Distribution
- 73% of the sources are Center
73% Center
L 27%
C 73%
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