Editorial illustration for Flock Uses Global Gig Workers to Train AI Tracking US Resident Movements
Flock's AI Tracking: Global Workers Power Surveillance Tech
Flock hires overseas gig workers to train AI that monitors U.S. movements
Surveillance technology is quietly expanding its reach, and Flock Safety is pushing boundaries in unexpected ways. The Atlanta-based company has turned to global gig workers to help train its AI-powered tracking systems, raising fresh questions about privacy and labor practices in the emerging world of automated monitoring.
By recruiting workers from countries like Venezuela and the Philippines, Flock is building a sophisticated system designed to track vehicle movements across US neighborhoods. These remote workers annotate massive amounts of video footage, helping the AI learn to recognize and catalog detailed vehicle characteristics with increasing precision.
But something deeper lurks beneath this technological development. The company's approach isn't just about technical idea, it's creating a full surveillance infrastructure that could fundamentally reshape how American communities are monitored.
What happens when AI-driven tracking becomes ubiquitous? And who really controls the data being collected about our daily movements?
But the nature of Flock's business--creating a surveillance system that constantly monitors US residents' movements--means that footage might be more sensitive than other AI training jobs. Flock's cameras continuously scan the license plate, color, brand, and model of all vehicles that drive by. Law enforcement are then able to search cameras nationwide to see where else a vehicle has driven.
Authorities typically dig through this data without a warrant, leading the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation to recently sue a city blanketed in nearly 500 Flock cameras. Broadly, Flock uses AI or machine learning to automatically detect license plates, vehicles, and people, including what clothes they are wearing, from camera footage. A Flock patent also mentions cameras detecting "race." Multiple tipsters pointed 404 Media to an exposed online panel which showed various metrics associated with Flock's AI training.
It included figures on "annotations completed" and "annotator tasks remaining in queue," with annotations being the notes workers add to reviewed footage to help train AI algorithms. Tasks include categorizing vehicle makes, colors, and types, transcribing license plates, and "audio tasks." Flock recently started advertising a feature that will detect "screaming." The panel showed workers sometimes completed thousands upon thousands of annotations over two day periods. The exposed panel included a list of people tasked with annotating Flock's footage.
Taking those names, 404 Media found some were located in the Philippines, according to their LinkedIn and other online profiles.
Flock's AI surveillance system raises serious privacy concerns. The company's approach of using global gig workers to train tracking technology that monitors U.S. residents' movements feels invasive and potentially problematic.
Law enforcement's ability to search nationwide camera networks without warrants suggests significant legal gray areas. These systems capture granular details about vehicles - from license plates to color and model - creating a full movement tracking infrastructure.
The sensitive nature of this data makes the training process particularly uncomfortable. Overseas workers are neededly building a surveillance tool that could track Americans' daily movements with unusual precision.
While the technology might serve legitimate security purposes, the lack of clear oversight is troubling. Flock's system transforms routine vehicle movements into trackable, searchable data points that could easily be misused.
The American Civil Liberties Union would likely view this as a significant threat to personal privacy. Without strong legal protections, such AI-powered tracking systems risk becoming tools of mass surveillance.
Further Reading
- Flock Safety AI Cameras Exposed: Privacy Breaches and Surveillance Fears - WebProNews
- Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves - 404 Media
- The CEO of Flock downloads on his surveillance cameras - Politico
- Worried about surveillance, states enact privacy laws and restrict license plate readers - Route Fifty
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Common Questions Answered
How does Flock Safety use global gig workers to train its AI tracking system?
Flock Safety recruits workers from countries like Venezuela and the Philippines to help train its AI-powered surveillance technology. These workers assist in developing a system that can track vehicle movements across US neighborhoods by analyzing detailed vehicle information.
What specific vehicle details does Flock's AI surveillance system capture?
Flock's cameras continuously scan and record multiple vehicle details, including license plates, vehicle color, brand, and model. This comprehensive data collection allows law enforcement to search camera networks nationwide and track a vehicle's movements across different locations.
What privacy concerns are raised by Flock's nationwide vehicle tracking system?
The system raises significant privacy concerns because law enforcement can search through vehicle movement data without obtaining a warrant. The American Civil Liberties Union has highlighted the invasive nature of this continuous monitoring, which creates a detailed tracking infrastructure of US residents' movements.