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Line 51: − − ==Data retention== − By default, Flock customers have been able to access their data up to 30 days in the past.<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/legal/flock-evidence-policy</ref> Under public pressure, the company began reducing the default period to 7 days, in 2026.<ref>https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/state/georgia/atlanta/2026/08/14/flock-safety-changes-data-retention-default-to-7-days-amid-backlash/91300697007/</ref> However, at the same time, Flock unintentionally made news, when they revealed that they had, in fact, five years of tracking data. − − The city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was a customer of Flock, with 15 vehicle scanners deployed in their city. Although they were under the same restrictions as everyone else as to how far back in time they could search, Flock approached the city with a proposal. According to Mayor Eric Sorensen, a Flock sales representative contacted Sheboygan's Engineering department, offering to sell them five years of They wanted to sell Sheboygan 5 years of traffic speed and moment, which had been captured by those 15 Flock devices. The city decided to cancel their contract with Flock over the loss of trust, since they had been told that the data was only being retained for 30 days. However, Police Chief Patrick Patton and his department, decided to simply swap to a different vendor proving the same service, [[Axon]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA03drXAMGE</ref>
reordering sections
==Tracking?==
==Tracking?==
Flock's PR statements and marketing materials state that their systems "do not track" people. When considering a single ALPR, that is essentially true. It only identifies each person, and records the exact time, place they were seen, along with the direction they were traveling. However, Flock's network of surveillance devices are deployed in such a way that they are repeatedly doing this, potentially more than once per minute. This enables Flock's AI to track each person's moment over time, using essentially pins on a map. As soon as a person stops moving, Flock knows that person has stopped within the current surveillance perimeter. If these cameras are deployed in enough places, they can go beyond that, recording exactly where each body is located, who they are talking with, and so forth. This is inconstant with their public statements, and the materials they provide to their customers to calm concerned citizens. However, Flock's internal training materials have been found to clearly acknowledge that they are, indeed, tracking people.<ref>https://www.kswo.com/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-own-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref><ref>https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-own-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref><ref>https://www.investigatetv.com/video/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref>
Flock's PR statements and marketing materials state that their systems "do not track" people. When considering a single ALPR, that is essentially true. It only identifies each person, and records the exact time, place they were seen, along with the direction they were traveling. However, Flock's network of surveillance devices are deployed in such a way that they are repeatedly doing this, potentially more than once per minute. This enables Flock's AI to track each person's moment over time, using essentially pins on a map. As soon as a person stops moving, Flock knows that person has stopped within the current surveillance perimeter. If these cameras are deployed in enough places, they can go beyond that, recording exactly where each body is located, who they are talking with, and so forth. This is inconstant with their public statements, and the materials they provide to their customers to calm concerned citizens. However, Flock's internal training materials have been found to clearly acknowledge that they are, indeed, tracking people.<ref>https://www.kswo.com/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-own-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref><ref>https://www.cleveland19.com/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-own-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref><ref>https://www.investigatetv.com/video/2026/06/15/flock-says-its-cameras-dont-track-people-its-training-videos-say-otherwise/</ref>
==Data retention==
By default, Flock customers have been able to access their data up to 30 days in the past.<ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/legal/flock-evidence-policy</ref> Under public pressure, the company began reducing the default period to 7 days, in 2026.<ref>https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/state/georgia/atlanta/2026/08/14/flock-safety-changes-data-retention-default-to-7-days-amid-backlash/91300697007/</ref> However, at the same time, Flock unintentionally made news, when they revealed that they had, in fact, five years of tracking data.
The city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was a customer of Flock, with 15 vehicle scanners deployed in their city. Although they were under the same restrictions as everyone else as to how far back in time they could search, Flock approached the city with a proposal. According to Mayor Eric Sorensen, a Flock sales representative contacted Sheboygan's Engineering department, offering to sell them five years of They wanted to sell Sheboygan 5 years of traffic speed and moment, which had been captured by those 15 Flock devices. The city decided to cancel their contract with Flock over the loss of trust, since they had been told that the data was only being retained for 30 days. However, Police Chief Patrick Patton and his department, decided to simply swap to a different vendor proving the same service, [[Axon]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA03drXAMGE</ref>
==History==
==History==
==Funding==
==Funding==
Flock grew rapidly, in large part due to venture capital investments in the company. This venture capital was obtained by a variety of companies and groups, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z),<ref>https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-flock-safety/</ref> Founders Fund (Created by Peter Thiel),<ref>https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/13/are-flock-and-palantir-both-owned-by-billionaire-peter-thiel/</ref><ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-safety-secures-major-funding</ref> Greenoaks, Bedrock, Meritech, Matrix Partners, Sands Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Tiger Global and Y Combinator.<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/posts/y-combinator_flock-safety-has-just-raised-275-million-activity-7305973452862078977-a8dE</ref><ref>https://sfl.media/trump-billionaires-are-behind-the-flock-cameras-tracking-your-every-move/</ref> Many individuals have been involved in providing this funding, including Sanjot Malhi, Tarun Davda, Sanuj Shah, Ankush Goyal, Rajinder Balaraman, Stan Reiss, Paul Ferri, Geoff Lewis, Alda Dennis, Ayush Chamaria, Sudipto Sannigrahi, Gourav Bhattacharya, Avnish Bajaj, Rajat Agarwal, Ben Altshuler, Andrew Verhalen, Anthony DeCamillo, Rob Ward, David George, Paul Madera, Akshat Jain, Marinda Luk, and Vikram Vaidyanathan.<ref>https://www.roundfunded.com/en/founder/matt-feury</ref>
Flock grew rapidly, in large part due to venture capital investments in the company. This venture capital was obtained by a variety of companies and groups, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z),<ref>https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-flock-safety/</ref> Founders Fund (Created by Peter Thiel),<ref>https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/13/are-flock-and-palantir-both-owned-by-billionaire-peter-thiel/</ref><ref>https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-safety-secures-major-funding</ref> Greenoaks, Bedrock, Meritech, Matrix Partners, Sands Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Tiger Global and Y Combinator.<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/posts/y-combinator_flock-safety-has-just-raised-275-million-activity-7305973452862078977-a8dE</ref><ref>https://sfl.media/trump-billionaires-are-behind-the-flock-cameras-tracking-your-every-move/</ref> Many individuals have been involved in providing this funding, including Sanjot Malhi, Tarun Davda, Sanuj Shah, Ankush Goyal, Rajinder Balaraman, Stan Reiss, Paul Ferri, Geoff Lewis, Alda Dennis, Ayush Chamaria, Sudipto Sannigrahi, Gourav Bhattacharya, Avnish Bajaj, Rajat Agarwal, Ben Altshuler, Andrew Verhalen, Anthony DeCamillo, Rob Ward, David George, Paul Madera, Akshat Jain, Marinda Luk, and Vikram Vaidyanathan.<ref>https://www.roundfunded.com/en/founder/matt-feury</ref>
==References==
==References==