Flock Safety cuts data retention to 7 days after misuse

Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based surveillance company, said it has reduced the default period it keeps data to seven days, a change announced Thursday after reports that police officers misused access to its camera network to track people without authorization.

The company operates a network of 120,000 cameras and sells artificial intelligence-powered automatic license-plate readers to police departments as well as private neighborhood watch committees, positioning the technology as a tool to fight crime.

Reports of unauthorized searches and stalking allegations

The policy shift follows investigations that identified at least 46 instances in which law enforcement officers used the database in ways described as stalking, including searches targeting former partners. The reports raised concerns about how access is controlled and how long records remain available for later searches.

In response, Flock Safety said it is updating its security framework to limit routine storage while adding controls intended to reduce improper use. The company’s default data retention previously stood at 30 days, before the change to seven.

Audit requirements, anomaly flags, and lockouts Flock Safety said it will require audit features that record every query of the system and are designed to flag abnormal search patterns. Under the plan, users who show suspicious behavior would be automatically locked out while the activity is reviewed by administrators.

Flock Safety

The company also said it will introduce an exception-based “evidence mode” that allows longer storage windows in specific cases. Flock framed the feature as a way to support investigations that may require access beyond the default period while keeping routine retention shorter.

These operational changes are scheduled to be fully implemented by the end of 2026. As part of the rollout, Flock said all law enforcement queries across the network will require case codes, a step the company described as a mechanism to tie searches to a documented purpose.

Limits on cross-jurisdiction sharing by offense category

Flock Safety said agencies will be given the option to apply offense-based filters that narrow which types of cases allow data sharing. The company described a scenario in which a municipality could permit neighboring jurisdictions to search its cameras for stolen vehicles, missing persons, or violent crimes.

Under the same approach, the municipality could block searches tied to immigration enforcement, the company said. The intent, according to Flock, is to let jurisdictions set boundaries on how their camera data is used by others.

Civil liberties response highlights unresolved oversight debate

The American Civil Liberties Union said the reduction in default retention from 30 days to seven days was a positive step. At the same time, the group described the wider set of policy adjustments as superficial and argued that the operational changes treat privacy concerns as a public relations issue rather than addressing systemic oversight.

The effectiveness of the new controls will depend on how consistently audit requirements, case-code rules, and lockout procedures are applied across agencies using the network, with full implementation not expected until the end of 2026.