Texas blocks funding for Flock as backlash grows against AI surveillance cameras

Flock’s AI surveillance cameras are increasingly being targeted by its critics across the country. No, we’re not just talking about vigilantes who are taking the cameras down in their towns. We’re talking about politicians now, too. And it’s a bipartisan effort; an anti-Flock position is being taken up by both Republican and Democratic politicians.

Case in point: Texas Governor Greg Abbot, a Republican, has just recently blocked funding for Flock across the state. Abbott ordered that all state agencies stop funding the AI surveillance camera company in an order issued on Thursday night.

Abbot’s order came just as The Texas Tribune was going to publish a report on how the state of Texas spent at least $30 million in grants provided to local agencies to acquire the Flock cameras. According to the report, the money came from a higher fee levied by Texas lawmakers on Texans’ car insurance policies.

Just days before Abbot blocked Flock funding in the state, his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, released a campaign ad criticizing Governor Abbot over Flock.

The Democratic candidate’s ad warns Texans that there are “10,000 Flock cameras reading your [license] plate, logging where you sleep and pray” all with “no warrant needed” in “Greg Abbot’s Texas.”

Numerous reports have been trickling in from around the country regarding law enforcement officers misusing Flock cameras and their data in order to stalk and harass individuals. The concern over Flock cameras has led to websites popping up, like Have I Been Flocked?, that warn users if their license plate has been captured by a Flock camera.

The blowback against Flock is not just happening in Texas, either. Both Republican and Democratic candidates in states like Michigan and Pennsylvania have run on anti-surveillance platforms and criticized their opponents for supporting policies that led to Flock installations in their states. Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has even taken to calling his opponent, Republican Mike Rogers, the nickname “Mass Surveillance Mike” over the issue. 

Last week, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced an investigation into Flock Safety, the company behind Flock cameras, to determine how it handles the data it captures.

With more than 120,000 Flock cameras across 49 states, it’s safe to say that Flock has become a real issue for citizens. Now it’s become a bipartisan concern for politicians, too.