Flock Clarifies: No Threats Over Surveillance Discussions

On Thursday, a lecture series in Newport Beach, CA, shared a photo on Instagram that seemed to show a cease and desist letter from Flock Safety, a company known for its surveillance technology. This letter sparked renewed criticism of Flock, which has faced backlash for its partnerships with law enforcement and for allegedly attempting to stifle conversations about its practices. The group behind the lecture series, The Saturday Salon, declared in their post, “WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED,” which garnered over 3,000 likes. A related post on Bluesky received more than 360 reposts. The letter demands that the group cease discussions regarding Flock’s surveillance technology. In a direct message from The Saturday Salon’s account, Schuyler Lifschultz mentioned they found the letter taped to their front door.

However, Flock has denied sending the letter, with chief strategy officer Rahul Sidhu claiming it is part of a disinformation campaign against the company. “Flock never sent this letter; these people made it up (with a forged signature) to try to manipulate people,” Sidhu stated. “We are pro-democracy. People SHOULD have discussions and lectures like this.”

In a statement, Flock’s chief legal officer, Dan Haley, confirmed that the company is aware of “at least two forged” letters and emphasized that “these letters did not come from me or from anyone at Flock.” Haley’s full statement included:
> We’re aware of at least two forged letters circulating on the internet, including this one, that purport to be cease-and-desist letters from our legal department. To be clear: these letters did not come from me or from anyone at Flock.
> Flock welcomes and encourages public debate about our technology. We have not and would not seek to discourage, prevent, or prohibit such discussion and debate. In fact, we would be happy to participate in any such discussions the group in question might host in the future.

A closer look at the letter shared by The Saturday Salon reveals some inconsistencies. For instance, Haley’s title in the letter is listed as “Head of Legal Affairs Division,” while his actual title is chief legal officer. Additionally, an email sent to the address listed in the letter bounced back.

Lifschultz expressed that The Saturday Salon would be open to having someone from Flock come in to share their perspective and give a lecture, emphasizing their political neutrality and non-commercial stance.

Another forged letter that Flock is aware of was posted by musician Noah Orion, who sells “Fuck Flock” stickers on his website. This letter accuses Orion of “unauthorized dissemination” of materials that encourage his fans to display stickers in a manner deemed disrespectful towards the company. This letter also contains oddities, such as referring to the company as Flock Cameras and incorrectly using “persecute” instead of “prosecute.” Orion has not yet responded to requests for comment.