{"id":18520,"date":"2026-08-22T09:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=18520"},"modified":"2026-08-22T09:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:29:29","slug":"flock-is-quietly-selling-powerful-drones-that-scan-license-plates-from-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/22\/flock-is-quietly-selling-powerful-drones-that-scan-license-plates-from-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Flock Is Quietly Selling Powerful Drones That Scan License Plates From the Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I would actually be alright with this technology for first response as long as they delete data not relevant to the investigation soon after. This aligns more with probable cause for scanning the scene of an emergency call. Though I bet it’s collecting license plates all the way there and back home. And how safe is this equipment after having seen the Amazon delivery drone fails this week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/futurism.com\/future-society\/flock-quietly-selling-drones-scan-license-plates<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
It’s the company’s “fastest growing business unit.”<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By Victor Tangermann<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Flock \/ Futurism<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Flock Safety is seriously struggling to beat the allegations of enabling a dystopian surveillance state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has been reeling from a growing PR crisis, with a growing number of Americans vandalizing<\/a> its flawed<\/a> license plate-reading cameras. It\u2019s been losing dozens of contracts<\/a> with cities across the country as the controversy grows, undermining its value to police<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, while simultaneously promising to address glaring privacy concerns with milquetoast software updates, Flock is doubling down by selling \u201cDrone as First Responder\u201d (DFR) tech, in the form of drones that are equipped with powerful cameras that can inspect license plate numbers from up to 2,000 feet away, as Techspot<\/em> reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a Monday podcast appearance<\/a>, Flock CEO Garrett Langley fleshed out the company\u2019s latest foray into airborne camera-equipped drones, purportedly the company\u2019s \u201cfastest growing business unit right now.\u201d Drones stationed on the roofs of police stations or fire departments launch to respond to 911 calls much quicker, he said, by traveling as the crow flies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNormally what would happen\u2026 is like one cop would have heard that, flip on the blue lights, race down there\u2026 and someone\u2019s about to die,\u201d Langley explained, describing a case in which a woman called 911 on a man, who later turned out to be holding a lighter, not a gun, as initially suspected. \u201cInstead, they launch the drone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Langley claimed that \u201cwe have thousands and thousands of stories like that where communities are safer now with our drones. They\u2019re safer with our cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specs of the surveillance drones are terrifying. According to Langley, they can fly at 400 feet and reach 60 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson told Techspot<\/em> that Flock has already amassed 200 customers for its DFR program, including police departments and private companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is part of a much bigger trend, with digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation warning in a July statement<\/a> that \u201cpolice departments across the country are lining up to launch DFR programs\u201d and that \u201chundreds have cleared a necessary hurdle toward making deployment a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the group, over 1,000 public safety agencies have received Federal Aviation Administration waivers to automate drone operations as of February of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EFF also warned that the drones can easily \u201ccapture footage from areas typically inaccessible to a casual patrol officer \u2014 backyards, roofs, through windows \u2014 at distances that leave subjects of surveillance completely unaware of the spy in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would actually be alright with this technology for first response as long as they delete data not relevant to the investigation soon after. This aligns more with probable cause for scanning the scene of an emergency call. Though I bet it’s collecting license plates all the way there and back home. And how safe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18521,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18520\/revisions\/18521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}