Flock Cameras, Meta Glasses and the Surveillance Backlash

Flock Safety, the company that makes the automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras used by over 7,000 (vox.com/podcasts/499822/flock-ai-cameras-backl…) U.S. law enforcement agencies, is facing a public backlash against surveillance tech. Nearly half of Americans surveyed (washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/28/ameri…) in an August poll said they opposed ALPRs. The opposition is part of a long-simmering mistrust of big tech and concerns over privacy and data security.

Kara speaks with a panel of experts about how the backlash to Flock and street surveillance cameras squares with the boom in wearable tech and AI-powered smart devices. Plus, they discuss – and question – the usual framing of a trade-off between privacy and security.

Jason Koebler (404media.co/author/jason-koebler) is a co-founder of 404 Media. He and his colleagues have been reporting on Flock for the past few years.

Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble (safiyaunoble.com/bio-cv) is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the Director of the Center on Resilience & Digital Justice and is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant.” She’s also the author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. (nyupress.org/9781479837243/algorithms-of-oppre…)

Victoria Song (theverge.com/authors/victoria-song) is a senior reviewer for The Verge and author of the Optimizer newsletter. She specializes in emerging technologies in wearables, health and fitness and XR.

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