How Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code

The notion of a digital fence around personal lives has long been debated by tech ethicists and privacy advocates. In theory, law enforcement agencies can access data only with a warrant or probable cause. However, when that line blurs, concerns arise.

Flock Safety’s new tool, OS Investigate, helps police track individuals based on patterns of movement alone. The system aggregates data from cameras in over 6,000 communities, allowing officers to pinpoint potential witnesses or suspects without a license plate number or specific crime. This is a departure from Flock’s previous stance that its technology couldn’t recognize or track individuals.

At first glance, OS Investigate seems like an innocuous tool for investigators to work with existing data. However, closer inspection reveals a more sinister intent: mass surveillance under the guise of investigation. The system’s pre-loaded prompts suggest that Flock is enabling police to cast suspicion on drivers based on their driving habits rather than concrete evidence of wrongdoing.

The implications are staggering. With OS Investigate, an officer could input a location, time frame, and pattern of behavior, and the system would return a list of plates corresponding to individuals who fit that description. This tool can be used to target specific communities or groups, not actual suspects.

Flock Safety’s 69 pre-loaded prompts in OS Investigate read like a playbook for surveillance state tactics. One prompt instructs the system to find witnesses based on vehicles most seen in a neighborhood over the past two weeks. Another allows officers to list everyone arrested more than twice in two years for any offense (excluding narcotics), map their residences, and retrieve calls for service at those addresses.

The tool’s creators seem oblivious to the fact that these prompts are essentially permission slips for police to engage in warrantless mass surveillance. Flock Safety has positioned itself as a company committed to transparency and accountability, but OS Investigate’s capabilities fly in the face of those values.

Experts warn that this technology raises serious constitutional concerns about police overreach and the erosion of our right to privacy. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been vocal about its opposition to mass surveillance, citing instances where it has led to “gross abuses of power” and “marginalized communities.”

Flock’s spokesperson downplayed the capabilities of OS Investigate, suggesting that it is still in development and may not reflect what the company ultimately sells. However, this response only serves to underscore the lack of transparency surrounding Flock’s technology.

As law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making without adequate oversight or safeguards, it’s essential to consider the broader implications of AI-powered surveillance tools like OS Investigate. The stakes are higher than ever before, and it’s up to us – as citizens and advocates for digital rights – to demand answers about how these technologies will be used.

The line between investigative tool and surveillance state is getting blurrier by the day. It’s time to shine a light on Flock Safety’s OS Investigate and the broader implications of AI-powered mass surveillance. The future of our democracy depends on it.