The CEOs of major surveillance technology companies, including Flock Safety, did not appear at a Senate hearing convened by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to investigate the proliferation of their products, which have been heavily scrutinized for potential privacy violations.
Chairman Hawley of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism invited Mr. Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety. axon enterprise CEO Rick Smith said: motorola solutions CEO Greg Brown and Verkada CEO Philip Calizan are expected to testify at a hearing Wednesday to examine the AI-powered surveillance cameras. None of the executives appeared before the committee.
“I invited everyone. Sen. Durbin and I invited them,” Hawley said, referring to Sen. Dick Durbin (D), the committee’s ranking member. “I think we need to hear from them about what their networks are doing. I think we need to hear from them about their intentions and their capabilities.”
The hearing comes amid increased scrutiny of the companies, particularly Flock, which has an extensive network of AI-powered automatic license plate readers. Our nationwide network is accessible to customers, including police departments, and is recognized for helping solve crimes.
However, senators on the committee expressed widespread concern that the technology could lead to dangerous surveillance networks that violate people’s rights. On Wednesday, five Indiana police officers were indicted on charges related to the misuse of surveillance technology, and the committee heard from Lindsey Isaacs, who was wrongly accused of being involved in a fatal crash due to a surveillance camera error.
“For example, we’ve heard that Flock network customers only need to purchase one camera and a subscription, which costs about $3,000 a year. In return, they get access to tens of thousands of cameras (about 120,000 in Flock’s case) and a national database of billions of images,” Hawley said. “We need to have an honest conversation about where this is taking us as a country.”
Mr. Hawley did not say during the hearing whether he intended to force Mr. Flock or any other invited companies to appear before the committee. But in an interview with reporters before the hearing, Hawley suggested the companies could be forced to testify.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “But we haven’t summoned them, and we should.”
Congressional committees have subpoena powers, meaning they can compel testimony from individuals who do not voluntarily appear in court.
At the hearing, oversight of Flock and other surveillance providers was largely bipartisan, as was the disdain for company leaders’ absence.
“For the Flock CEOs, it’s obvious they’re nervous about being on camera,” Durbin said. “I wish they would have joined us today.”
Flock, Axon, and Motorola did not respond to requests for comment from CNBC.
“Unfortunately, our CEO was unable to attend today’s hearing,” a Verkada spokesperson said. The company also denied having a nationwide database.
“We are in contact with the subcommittee and are providing information to assist Chairman Hawley and Ranking Member Durbin as they prepare for the hearing,” the spokesperson said. “As we explained to the subcommittee, our customers cannot search the national Verkada network because it does not exist. Our customers can only access data within their own systems.”
Dan Haley, Flock’s chief legal officer, said in a Sept. 8 letter to Hawley that the company “recognizes the importance of, and is committed to building on, the significant and proactive steps we have taken over the past year to strengthen our ability to prevent and detect abuse of our technology.”
Flock also said he “supports clear and sensible legislation governing how this technology is used.” Durable laws and legal standards are the basis of the public trust on which our business depends.
Semafor reported Wednesday that Flock is considering selling itself.
—CNBC’s Karen James Sloan contributed to this report.
