Flock CEO says its microphones detect ‘just gunshots’ — its website says different

Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the company’s gunshot-detection microphones detect “just gunshots,” but Flock’s website paints a far broader picture of what other ambient audio also gets picked up.

Speaking onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt, the co-founder of the surveillance company defended Flock’s audio-collection product called Gunshot Detection, which listens for gunshots and other ambient audio across nearby neighborhoods to provide “earlier awareness” to potential public safety events.

Flock’s website says that the company’s audio systems can pinpoint gunfire instantly, while also being able to “detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates,” and “identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster.” It also says they can “expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows.”

The company’s Gunshot Detection feature, announced last year, faced immediate pushback. In announcing the feature, Flock said the technology would listen out for sounds of “screaming.” Privacy groups condemned the company for listening for human voices, prompting the company to amend its website to instead say “sounds of human distress.” Flock later said it pulled the ability to detect “distress” altogether from its customers who tried it.

During the interview, Langley pushed back against what he described as misinformation about his product, arguing that many of its critics misunderstand how its products work. The comments come as public opinion continues to shift against Flock and other license plate reading companies amid growing unease about mass surveillance — sentiments that were visible in San Francisco, where protesters gathered to voice their opposition outside the venue as Langley took the stage.

“Most people don’t call 911 when they hear a gunshot, and so that’s why we built the product,” Langley told TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos onstage. “And then some of our customers said, ‘Oh, we have these in parking lots. It would be great if we could get alerted if someone was being abducted, if someone was being harmed.’”

Langley said that the idea seemed logical, so the company prototyped it and rolled it out to a couple of customers, but said that some people then had a lot of concerns. Langley conceded to making mistakes but that he was listening to his customers.

“There’s only a couple customers that were prototyping it with us, and we said, ‘OK, great, it’s just going to do gunshots, plain and simple.’ If a gun goes off, we’ll notify, and if not, that’s all it’s going to listen to,” said Langley.

When asked about the contradiction between his remarks and the company’s marketing materials that say the audio systems can detect more than gunshots, he responded, “It’s just gunshots.” 

When reached by TechCrunch, Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel said: “Flock’s gunshot detection technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows, and potential car crashes. CEO Garrett Langley’s remarks were intended to emphasize that Flock’s Audio Detection technology is not designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and does not currently detect human screaming or distress.”

An FAQ section of the website notes that “in addition to gunshots, Flock Gunshot and Audio Detection can detect fireworks, sideshows, and other disruptive community events.” It goes on to state that the company’s “detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats that are relevant” to customers’ specific needs. 

Langley stated that the number of Flock’s microphones is comparable to ShotSpotter, which as of 2024 had about 25,000 microphones, per reporting by Wired.

Langley’s comments come amid mounting scrutiny of Flock from privacy advocates, including the ACLU, and members of the public who are concerned about the misuse of its technology, with some going so far as destroying the surveillance cameras. The remarks also come as Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon’s Ring has ended its partnership with the company.

Topics

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.