What the Hack? Episode 242: Surveillance in America, Pt 2: Flock You Very Much
Mar 10, 2026
Jason Koebler, technology reporter who covers surveillance and security, and Benn Jordan, musician-turned-investigator who exposes camera flaws. They discuss Flock Safety camera vulnerabilities and no-opt-out tracking. They explore AI beyond plate reading, nationwide network effects, potential wrongful arrests, exposed live feeds, and how data sharing enables broad surveillance.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Cameras Are More Than License Plate Readers
- Flock cameras go beyond LPRs into AI-powered pan‑tilt‑zoom devices that can track people, read phones, and identify appearance attributes.
- Ben Jordan and others note patents and products like Freeform that enable appearance‑based visual searches across cameras.
Wrong Car Ping Led To Mistaken Arrest
- Jason Koebler shared Redmond drone footage where a man was arrested after his Ford Fusion was pinged by Flock, and officers didn't verify identity before handcuffing.
- Thor Andrews Sr. said police ignored his claims they had the wrong person.
Reciprocal Subscriptions Create Warrantless Searches
- Access to the national Flock network is reciprocal: agencies subscribe and grant access to their local cameras to search the wider mesh.
- That subscription model incentivizes police to opt into a shared database without warrants.