Flock is pulling its plan to use its microphone network to monitor for  
  signs  
  of 'human distress'  but privacy concerns remain  
    
  Date:  
  Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:40:19 +0000  
    
  Description:  
  Flock says it's abandoning the idea of using its acoustic detection network  
  to listen out for signs of screaming and disturbance.  
    
  FULL STORY  
  It's fair to say Flock isn't the most popular tech company at the  
  moment, with major consumer concerns around surveillance and privacy in  
  regards to its widespread license plate cameras  but it has at least now  
  pulled one of its most contentious features.  
    
  That feature is 'human distress detection', which was recently trialed on a  
  small scale, and used Flock's network of urban acoustic detectors to listen  
  out for sounds of human screaming and panic. If those sounds were detected,  
  then the police would be alerted, potentially giving law enforcement a head  
  start in responding to an incident. After "careful consideration and  
  community consultation", Flock says it's now removing the human detection  
  element. The acoustic detectors remain in place, and continue to listen out  
  for sounds including gunshots and vehicle crashes  but the 'human distress'  
  element experiment is over, and won't be rolled out more widely.  
    
  In a detailed defense of its technology, Flock says "the system cannot  
  understand speech, analyze language, or identify voices". Audio isn't  
  recorded by default, but a rolling five-second window is continually  
  processed. If a matching event is detected, then the clip is processed,  
  encrypted, and stored.  
    
  A 'victory' for campaigners -- Consumer rights and privacy groups are  
  welcoming the decision. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has  
  declared  
  the move a "victory" for campaigners, though the organization still has  
  many  
  concerns around the existing gunshot and collision technology the  
  microphones  
  are still set up for.  
    
  "Gunshot-detecting microphones eventually being used to listen for  
  screaming  
  is exactly the type of mission creep that we've seen happen with other  
  pieces  
  of surveillance technology, including Flock's license plate readers," says  
  Matthew Guariglia, a senior policy analyst at the EFF.  
    
   The reaction online to the feature being pulled is less triumphant  most  
  commentators simply don't believe that Flock is going to limit these  
  acoustic  
  detectors in the ways it says it will. "I don't believe that for a second,"  
  is a Reddit response typical of the general sentiment, amid ongoing privacy  
  concerns.  
    
  What doesn't help Flock's reputation is that its representatives have  
  apparently lied before about what its devices can do, and what data is  
  being  
  collected  making it difficult for citizens to fully trust its stances on  
  privacy, even if this latest move does seem like a win.  
    
  Link to news story:  
  https://www.techradar.com/computing/computing-security/flock-is-pulling-its-  
  pl  
  an-to-use-its-microphone-network-to-monitor-for-signs-of-human-distress-but-  
  pr  
  ivacy-concerns-remain  
    
  $$  
    
    
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