Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices

"Flock Safety, the police technology company most notable for their extensive network of automated license plate readers spread throughout the United States, is rolling out a new and troubling product that may create headaches for the cities that adopt it: detection of "human distress" via audio. As part of their suite of technologies, Flock has been pushing , their version of acoustic gunshot detection . These devices capture sounds in public places and use machine learning to try to identify gunshots."

"and then alert police-but EFF has long warned that they are also high powered microphones parked above densely-populated city streets. Cities now have one more reason to follow the lead of many other municipalities and cancel their Flock contracts, before this new feature causes civil liberties harms to residents and headaches for cities. In marketing materials, Flock has been touting new features to their Raven product-including the ability of the device to alert police based on sounds, including "distress.""

"It's unclear how this technology works. For acoustic gunshot detection, generally the microphones are looking for sounds that would signify gunshots (though in practice they often mistake car backfires or fireworks for gunshots). Flock needs to come forward now with an explanation of exactly how their new technology functions. It is unclear how these devices will interact with state " eavesdropping " laws that limit listening to or recording the private conversations that often take place in public."

Flock Safety's Raven devices capture public audio and use machine learning to detect gunshots and 'distress' sounds. Marketing materials show alerts for 'screaming.' Microphones often misclassify noises like car backfires and fireworks as gunshots. The technology's operation and data handling have not been fully explained. State eavesdropping laws could apply to recordings of private conversations occurring in public. Flock previously faced allegations of illegal data sharing with ICE in Illinois. Cities that adopt the devices may face civil liberties harms and legal headaches.

Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation