Firearms businesses are pulling down their Flock security cameras because customers fear the cameras have turned into a monitoring network that threatens their gun rights.
Michael Carter, owner of Gun Commanders in Cleveland, Georgia, installed Flock cameras two years ago to combat burglars and help law enforcement nab illegal gun buyers.
He took down the cameras — which record license plate numbers and other data such as make, model and even bumper stickers to track vehicles — after his customers complained and posted criticisms on social media.
Their ire is but the latest manifestation of a nationwide privacy-rights backlash against Flock’s artificial intelligence-powered cameras discreetly installed on street corners, in parks, parking lots, neighborhoods or on drones buzzing overhead.
“I installed the system with the best of intentions — to protect the people who walk through our doors every day,” Mr. Carter told Now Georgia. “After listening to my customers, I realized that maintaining their trust is more important than any piece of technology.”
— Kerry Picket in ‘We own our privacy’: Flock cameras and firearm rights clash at gun shops