Surveillance Company Flock Cuts Staff as Privacy Backlash Grows

Surveillance camera maker Flock is cutting about 18% of its staff — roughly 270 employees — through a voluntary buyout program, with departures set for the end of October. The company describes it as "a voluntary program, not a layoff," framing the move as positioning for its next phase of growth.

The cuts arrive amid mounting criticism of Flock's license plate readers, which police and federal agents use to track vehicles across its network of more than 100,000 installed cameras. Critics point to officers arrested or fired for misusing the system to stalk people, weak cybersecurity, and misidentified plates that led to wrongful stops — concerns that have already pushed several cities and police departments, including Los Angeles, to end their contracts with the company.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, © Tony Webster, licensed under CC BY 2.0.