South Carolina Attorney General Asks Flock Safety to Explain AI Use and Data Sharing

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson is asking Flock Safety to explain both what its camera technology identifies and what happens to the data afterward. His October 2, 2026 letter seeks answers about artificial intelligence, access, sharing and retention, giving the license-plate camera company 30 days to respond to the privacy and security inquiry.

The letter is addressed to Flock CEO Garrett Langley. In an October 5 news release, Wilson said the inquiry followed public representations by the company. He framed the request around protecting citizens’ privacy while law enforcement uses technology to fight crime.

Identification, sharing and the life of a record

Wilson’s questions cover more than the cameras’ identification technology.

• Identification: Does Flock employ any form of artificial intelligence to identify vehicles or people? The question asks the company to explain its use of AI across those two categories, rather than limiting the inquiry to facial identification.
• Access and sharing: What restrictions apply to data access? Wilson also asks whether Flock facilitates sharing among multiple customers, including government agencies, through a “broader network,” and who is allowed to access that network’s data.
• Retention: Does Flock impose mandatory data-retention policies, and what are they? This part of the request seeks the company’s requirements for keeping records, alongside the separate questions about identification and access.

“The instruments we use to ensure public safety should also take extra care to value the privacy of the same citizens we are protecting from crime.”

Alan Wilson, in his October 5 news release

Public assurances face a legal inquiry

Wilson tied the inquiry to S.C. Code Ann. § 39-5-20, which he said requires representations to be truthful and not deceptive. He pointed specifically to Flock’s statements that it does not use facial identification technology and has built-in restrictions on data access. Those assurances are the subject of his questions, not findings in the letter that the company has violated the law.

Wilson said many South Carolina law enforcement agencies use Flock to help identify and apprehend suspects, and he supports giving officers the latest tools. But he warned that even useful tools can be misused. He cited Flock’s reach—more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states—as a reason the stakes are particularly high.