Influencers threaten to stop shopping at Lowe’s and Home Depot until they cancel Flock contracts
TikTok comedian and former NASA engineer joins the fight against Flock.
The Home Depot store is seen in Austin, Texas. Image by Brandon Bell/Getty
- 56 influencers are urging Lowe’s and Home Depot to end their Flock Safety contracts.
- They say store camera data could expose customers and immigrant day laborers to harmful surveillance.
- The letter claims Flock’s network has helped immigration agents raid, track, and detain people.
- Public opposition to Flock has grown after alleged misuse and repeated camera vandalism.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Social media influencers are going head-to-head with two major US retailers in hopes of getting them to terminate their contracts with Flock Safety.
A letter sent by 56 influencers, public figures, and content creators with a combined follower count of over 46 million demands that Lowe’s and Home Depot end their contracts with Flock Safety.
The influencers who signed the letter claim that they create “DIY and home improvement content for a living” and often visit Lowe’s or Home Depot to buy products.
Among the signatories are TikTok comedian Spencer Earl and former NASA engineer Susan Martinez.
Their followers also seem to support the cause, with some already claiming to have dropped the hardware stores for the same reason.
The group argues that they can’t “in good conscience” encourage their followers to use Lowe’s and Home Depot “until you drop ties with harmful surveillance vendors.”
The main argument is that Home Depot and Lowe’s, which serve thousands of people every day across the country, are providing Flock with a huge amount of data that could later be exploited by malicious government agencies.
ICE has various contracts with Flock and has allowed law enforcement to track suspects using the tech.
In the letter addressed to CEOs Marvin Ellison of Lowe’s and Ted Decker of Home Depot, these influencers explicitly say that Flock’s network has been used to aid immigration agents in raiding, stalking, and detaining people.
“As some of the largest commercial customers of Flock Safety, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot cannot continue to put customers in danger with this contract,” according to the letter.
The letter also highlighted the irony of the situation by saying that hardware stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot “profit daily off immigrant day laborers” but are happy to share their data with “hostile organizations that want to cause them harm.”
The US public continues to resist Flock
Across the nation, people have taken a strong dislike to Flock Safety, the private, for-profit company responsible for license plate readers and other surveillance tech.
One of the many reasons the public doesn’t like Flock is that dozens of law enforcement representatives have been accused of abusing the network.
The latest case involves a senior investigator in Albany who was accused of using the Flock network 3,000 times to spy on her ex-girlfriend.
In retaliation, various members of the public have been accused of tearing down cameras and even setting fire to them.
Flock camera vandalism has become such a widespread issue that police put up a 3D-printed camera as bait and arrested one man who was charged with three felonies.
As certain members of the public engage in violence, other Americans have taken a pacifistic approach to protest.
One Florida man protested Flock by blocking cameras with signs, and another man used his 3D printer to blind Flock cameras without damaging them.
But that hasn’t quelled the hatred towards Flock surveillance, as netizens announced a Halloween-night purge of Flock cameras.
One Michigan tattoo artist jokingly promised a free tattoo for every Flock camera vandalized, which some people took very seriously.
