Surveillance technology company Flock Safety has developed a new artificial intelligence tool that can reportedly track drivers even when investigators lack a name or a license plate number, raising fresh concerns among privacy advocates about the reach of automated policing systems.
How the Tool Works
The new system, called "OS Investigate," is built on top of Flock's existing network of cameras that already blanket thousands of American communities. According to details revealed in the tool's underlying code, the software comes equipped with 69 preloaded AI prompts designed to sift through vast troves of visual data and pinpoint individuals.
Rather than relying solely on identifying markers like a name or plate, the tool can reportedly analyze behavioral patterns, including how a person moves, to flag and follow a target. That capability effectively transforms Flock's camera fleet into a far more powerful surveillance apparatus than its traditional automated license plate readers.
A camera network built to read plates can now, in effect, read people.
The preloaded prompts function like ready-made investigative queries, allowing law enforcement users to quickly deploy sophisticated searches without needing technical expertise. By lowering the barrier to advanced tracking, the tool could dramatically expand what officers are able to do with footage already being collected.
Privacy Concerns
Critics argue that the ability to identify people by their gait or movement patterns marks a significant escalation in mass surveillance, one that operates without the safeguards typically associated with targeted investigations. The concern is that individuals who have committed no crime could be swept up and monitored simply by passing within camera range.
Flock's cameras are already widespread across the United States, deployed by both police departments and homeowners' associations. Layering AI-driven identification on top of that infrastructure amplifies questions about oversight, data retention, and who ultimately controls the information gathered.
Key issues raised by observers include:
- The tracking of people who lack any identifying information on file
- The use of behavioral biometrics like movement to single out individuals
- The scale of Flock's existing camera deployment nationwide
As AI tools continue to blur the line between routine data collection and active surveillance, the debate over Flock's expanding capabilities is likely to intensify among lawmakers, civil liberties groups, and the communities where the cameras operate.