San Franciscans Shun Flock GEO Garrett Langley Outside of TechCrunch Conference
San Francisco, CA— Today, dozens of San Franciscans rallied outside of the TechCrunch conference where Flock CEO Garrett Langley was scheduled to speak. The crowd held banners, anti-surveillance costumes, and signs in protest of Flock CEO Garrett Langley to demand an end to the use of automated license plate readers and mass surveillance.
The rally, organized by the Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America (SVDSA), Deflock SF, Deflock NorCal, Peoples Aid Santa Cruz, Bay Resistance Silicon Valley, The Wolves, Fight For the Future, Safety Over Surveillance (SOS) Santa Clara County, and the Raging Grannies, comes amid intensified scrutiny of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) by lawmakers across the country. Weeks ago, Flock and other ALPR surveillance vendors were on public trial during a Senate Judiciary Hearing which exposed the severe civil liberties risks of mass surveillance tools like Flock and inherent patterns of abuse. Since then, lawmakers have unveiled several legislative proposals including potential bans on ALPRs and state funding to acquire such technology.
Check out photos and videos from today’s protest outside of the conference:
Organizers of the action issued the following statements regarding the head of Flock in SF:
Zachary Schwartz, an organizer for Deflock SF said:
“TechCrunch’s invitation of Garrett Langley to be a speaker at their event is indicative of the connection between the San Francisco tech industry and national surveillance companies. This event believes that they can tell San Francisco who we want in our city, so we’re showing them what San Franciscan’s really think.”
Manny, a representative of Deflock NorCal said:
“You can’t put guardrails on fascism.”
Reem Suleiman, a Campaign Director at Fight For the Future said:
“There are so many layers to the resistance against Flock, particularly in the Bay as the heart of the tech industry. Like gentrification, surveillance (read: Flock) is yet another manifestation of tech oligarchs swooping in to make the city inhospitable to those who call it home. This protest is about preserving the very soul of San Francisco to remain a safe haven for the most vulnerable in the community who call it home.”
Ashley Ortiz, an organizer with The Wolves said:
“Flock’s mass surveillance network statistically has not increased safety. Instead, it has been abused by local police departments to track down women fleeing domestic violence and falsely accuse others of crimes elsewhere.”
Ruth Robertson of the social activist group the Raging Grannies said:
“Flock likes to say it helps find missing children and elderly in order to pull at heartstrings. But their claims do not stand up to scrutiny.”
Kimberly Woo, a Community Organizer from Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and a Steering Member of the Safety Over Surveillance Santa Clara County Coalition, said:
“”By enabling an enterprise of mass warrantless surveillance, our cities are in cahoots with the Flock CEO who is commodifying the destruction of our privacy rights. Flock has become the symbol of everything wrong with ALPRs, but the danger is in the business model itself and the unconstitutional hyper-surveillance that terrorizes our communities.”