Flock 首席执行官加雷特·兰利表示，该公司的枪声检测麦克风只能检测“仅限枪声”，但 Flock 的网站则描绘了一个更为广泛的画面，说明其他环境音也会被捕捉到。
Flock CEO Garrett Langley said the company’s gunshot detection microphones detect “just gunshots,” but Flock’s website paints a far broader picture of what other ambient audio also gets picked up.
在 TechCrunch Disrupt 的舞台上，这家监控公司的联合创始人为其名为“枪声检测”的音频采集产品进行了辩护，该产品能够监听附近社区的枪声和其他环境音，以提供对潜在公共安全事件的“更早感知”。
Speaking on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt, the co-founder of the surveillance company defended Flock’s audio-collection product called Gunshot Detection, which listens for gunshots and other ambient audio across nearby neighborhoods to provide “earlier awareness” to potential public safety events.
Flock 的网站称，该公司的音频系统能够即时定位枪击位置，同时还能“提前检测街头接管行为，以防止事态升级导致混乱”，以及“实时识别严重交通事故，以便更快救援到达”。网站还表示，该系统能够“通过汽车事故、烟花和街头表演的警报，将感知范围扩大到枪声之外”。该公司去年宣布的“枪声检测”功能一经推出便遭到立即反对。
Flock’s website says that the company’s audio systems can pinpoint gunfire instantly, while also being able to “detect street takeovers early to stop chaos before it escalates,” and “identify severe crashes in real time so help arrives faster.”It also says they can “expand awareness beyond gunfire with alerts for car crashes, fireworks, and sideshows.”The company’s Gunshot Detection feature, announced last year, faced immediate pushback.
Flock 在宣布该功能时表示，该技术将倾听“尖叫”声。隐私团体谴责该公司在监听人声，促使 Flock 修改了其网站，改为表述为“人类痛苦的声音”。随后，Flock 表示已完全从尝试使用该功能的客户那里移除了检测“痛苦”声的能力。
In announcing the feature, Flock said the technology would listen out for sounds of “screaming.”Privacy groups condemned the company for listening for human voices, prompting the company to amend its website to instead say “sounds of human distress.”Flock later said it pulled the ability to detect “distress” altogether from its customers who tried it.
在采访过程中，兰利驳斥了他所认为的关于其产品的错误信息，认为许多批评者误解了其产品的工作方式。他的言论正值公众对 Flock 及其他车牌识别公司的看法持续转向负面之际，公众对大规模监控的不安情绪日益加剧。这种情绪在旧金山尤为明显，抗议者在兰利登台时聚集在会场外，表达他们的反对意见。
During the interview, Langley pushed back against what he described as misinformation about his product, arguing that many of its critics misunderstand how its products work. The comments come as public opinion continues to shift against Flock and other license plate reading companies amid growing public unease about mass surveillance; sentiments that were visible in San Francisco, where protesters gathered to voice their opposition outside the venue as Langley took the stage.
“当人们听到枪声时，大多数人不会拨打911，所以我们才开发了这个产品，”兰格利在舞台上对《TechCrunch》总编辑康妮·卢伊佐斯说。“随后，一些客户说，‘哦，我们把这些装在停车场里。如果有人被绑架或受到伤害，我们能收到警报那就太好了。’”兰格利表示，这个想法看起来很合理，于是公司进行了原型制作，并向几家客户推出了该产品，但他说，随后一些人提出了许多担忧。兰格利承认自己犯了错误，但他表示自己一直在倾听客户的意见。
“Most people don’t call 911 when they hear a gunshot, and so that’s why we built the product,” Langley told TechCrunch editor-in-chief Connie Loizos on stage. “And then some of our customers said, ‘Oh, we have these in parking lots. It would be great if we could get alerted if someone was being abducted, if someone was being harmed.’”Langley said that the idea seemed logical, so the company prototyped it, rolled it out to a couple of customers, but said that some people then had a lot of concerns. Langley conceded to making mistakes but that he was listening to his customers.
“只有少数几家客户和我们一起进行原型测试，我们说，‘好的，很好，它只会检测枪声，简单直接。’如果有枪声响起，我们就会发出通知；如果没有，那它就只会监听这个，”兰格利说。
“There’s only a couple customers that were prototyping it with us, and we said, ‘OK, great, it’s just going to do gunshots, plain and simple.’ If a gun goes off, we’ll notify, and if not, that’s all it’s going to listen to,” said Langley.
当被问及他的话与公司宣传材料之间的矛盾时——宣传材料称音频系统能检测的不仅仅是枪声——他回答说，“它只能检测枪声。”
When asked about the contradiction between his remarks and the company’s marketing materials that say the audio systems can detect more than gunshots, he responded, “It’s just gunshots.”
当TechCrunch联系到Flock公司发言人巴黎·卢贝尔时，她说：“Flock的枪声检测技术主要用于检测枪炮声，但也能检测烟花、路边表演和潜在的车祸。首席执行官加雷特·兰格利的言论旨在强调，Flock的音频检测技术并非设计用于监控对话或分析语音，目前也无法检测人类的尖叫或痛苦声。”该公司网站的常见问题解答部分指出：“除了枪声之外，Flock枪声和音频检测还能识别烟花、路边表演和其他具有干扰性的社区事件。”文中还提到，公司的“检测库正在不断扩展，以纳入与客户特定需求相关的新兴威胁”。
When reached by TechCrunch, Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel said: “Flock’s gunshot detection technology is primarily used to detect gunfire but is also capable of detecting fireworks, sideshows, and potential car crashes. CEO Garrett Langley’s remarks were intended to emphasize that Flock’s Audio Detection technology is not designed to monitor conversations or analyze speech and does not currently detect human screaming or distress.”An FAQ section of the website notes that “in addition to gunshots, Flock Gunshot and Audio Detection can detect fireworks, sideshows, and other disruptive community events.”It goes on to state that the company’s “detection library is continually expanding to include emerging threats that are relevant” to customers’ specific needs.
兰格利表示，Flock的麦克风数量与ShotSpotter相当，据《Wired》报道，截至2024年，ShotSpotter大约拥有2.5万个麦克风。
Langley stated that the number of Flock’s microphones are comparable to ShotSpotter, which as of 2024 had about 25,000 microphones, per reporting by Wired.
兰利的言论是在隐私倡导者（包括美国公民自由联盟）以及对其技术滥用感到担忧的公众成员中，对Flock的审查日益加剧之际作出的，一些人甚至到了破坏监控摄像头的地步。这些言论也正值德克萨斯州和佛罗里达州已采取行动终止与Flock的关系，而亚马逊的Ring也已终止与该公司的合作伙伴关系之时。
Langley’s comments come amid mounting scrutiny of Flock from privacy advocates, including the ACLU, and members of the public who are concerned about the misuse of its technology, with some going so far as destroying the surveillance cameras. The remarks also come as Texas and Florida have moved to end their relationships with Flock, and Amazon’s Ring has ended its partnership with the company.