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Flock CEO says gunshot microphones detect 'just gunshots' as website lists broader audio monitoring

Privacy concerns persist as company's marketing describes detection of street takeovers, crashes and fireworks

By LineZotpaper
Published
Read Time2 min
Sources2 outlets
Flock CEO Garrett Langley defended the company's gunshot-detection microphones at TechCrunch Disrupt, stating they detect 'just gunshots', but the company's website promotes a far wider range of ambient audio monitoring capabilities, including street takeovers, crashes, fireworks and sideshows.

Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Flock co-founder Garrett Langley said the company's Gunshot Detection microphones detect only gunshots, pushing back against what he described as misinformation about the product. However, Flock's own website states the audio systems can also 'detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates,' 'identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster,' and 'expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows.'

The discrepancy comes after the feature, announced last year, faced immediate criticism. Flock originally said the technology would listen for sounds of 'screaming,' drawing condemnation from privacy groups for listening to human voices. The company later changed its website to say 'sounds of human distress' and subsequently said it removed the ability to detect distress altogether from customers who had tried it.

Langley's remarks at the conference occurred as protesters gathered outside the venue to voice opposition to Flock and other license plate reading companies, reflecting a broader shift in public opinion against mass surveillance technologies.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The discrepancy between a CEO's public statements and a company's own marketing raises questions about transparency in surveillance technology.
  • Flock's microphones are deployed in neighborhoods, meaning residents may be subject to ambient audio monitoring without clear understanding of its scope.
  • Growing public unease over mass surveillance could influence local government adoption of such systems and spur new privacy regulations.

Background

Flock is a surveillance technology company best known for its network of automated license plate readers used by law enforcement. In recent years it has expanded into audio-based detection products. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the company's data collection practices and the potential for mission creep. Public opinion surveys have shown increasing opposition to the use of license plate cameras and similar technologies.

Key Perspectives

Flock Safety (CEO Garrett Langley): Maintains that critics misunderstand the product and that its gunshot-detection system is narrowly focused on public safety, detecting only gunshots. Privacy groups (e.g., Electronic Frontier Foundation): Have condemned the audio-collection feature, arguing that listening for ambient sounds, including human voices, represents an overreach that threatens civil liberties. Critics/Skeptics: Point to Flock's own website as evidence that the system is designed to capture a broad range of audio events, not just gunfire, and caution that such capabilities could expand over time.

What to Watch

  • Any changes to Flock's product descriptions or public statements following the attention generated by this conference.
  • Potential city or state level legislation restricting the use of ambient audio monitoring by private surveillance companies.
  • Further survey data measuring public opinion on license plate readers and audio surveillance technologies.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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