From CNET: Flock Safety can’t seem to stay out of the news recently, from the latest wave of attacks on Flock surveillance cameras to claims that Flock’s gunshot detection microphones are also picking up private home conversations. But one specific report has caught my attention — a study showing a startlingly high failure rate for the surveillance system AI.
Following up on complaints about Flock Safety flagging vehicles incorrectly, the police department of Roseville, California, ran its own analysis of the cameras, studying nearly 1,500 Flock reports. They found an astonishing 71% failure rate, where the cameras would mistake one license plate number for another.
That’s not just a snafu. Mistaking one number for another, like seeing a 7 as a 1, can lead Flock cameras to incorrectly identify an innocent vehicle as one that was previously stolen. That’s exactly what happened in the California situation, where a citizen complained that the cameras were repeatedly flagging his car to police as stolen because the AI technology interpreted a 9 as an 8.
This is a stark contrast to Flock’s own claims — sort of. The company reports that independent evaluations show its cameras have a 96% vehicle count accuracy rating, while correctly categorizing 92% into vehicle types. But accurately recognizing vehicles is a far cry from accurately reading license plates, which Flock doesn’t provide much data on. I’ve reached out to Flock to learn more, and I’ll let you know if the company has additional details to provide.
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