Flock Cameras, Meta Glasses and the Surveillance Backlash

Safiya Noble (0:00)

People want to protect their babies. They want to believe that they're giving their children the very best.

Kara Swisher (0:05)

Also, you cannot optimize naps.

Kara Swisher (0:07)

Sorry.

Safiya Noble (0:07)

You really can't.

Kara Swisher (0:08)

You can't.

Kara Swisher (0:09)

And also, babies aren't doing many crimes.

Safiya Noble (0:12)

Leave the babies out of it.

Kara Swisher (0:13)

No crime in babies. And if they are, we'll take care of that one baby. My very clever baby.

Hi, everyone from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. This is On with Kara Swisher and I'm Kara Swisher. Flock Safety, the company that makes the Automated License Plate Reader, or ALPR, cameras used by over 7,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, is on the receiving end of a public backlash against surveillance tech. According to The Washington Post, nearly half of Americans surveyed in an August poll, said they opposed ALPRs.

But the opposition is part of a long-simmering mistrust of big tech and concerns over privacy and data security. Today, we're talking with a panel of experts about how the backlash to Flock and street surveillance cameras squares with the boom in wearable tech and AI-powered smart devices, and what's at stake in the trade-off between privacy and security. This is one of the most important topics of the day around tech, is what these companies are collecting, what they're doing with it, and what you need to know to protect yourself. You are a guinea pig to these companies who are only interested in shareholder value. They are not interested in you. They're not interested in protecting you. They're interested in using you because they are at heart, rapacious information thieves. This is a word Walt Mossberg used decades ago, and it remains even more true in the age of AI where they need more information to serve their corporate purposes. Jason Koebler is the co-founder of 404 Media. He and his colleagues have been reporting on Flock for the past few years along with a lot of other amazing reporting they do at 404 Media.

Kara Swisher (2:03)

Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble is the David O.

Kara Swisher (2:07)

Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and a professor at University of California, Los Angeles. She is the Director of the Center on Resilience and Digital Justice and is the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. She's also the author of Algorithms of Oppression, How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Victoria Song is a senior reviewer for The Verge and the author of the Optimizer newsletter. She specializes in emerging technologies in wearables, health, fitness, and XR. Our expert question day comes from one of my favorite journalists, cybersecurity expert and author, Nicole Pearlroth, so stick around.

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Jason Koebler (4:42)

It is on.

Kara Swisher (4:44)

Jason, Safiya and Victoria, thank you for coming on On.

Jason Koebler (4:49)