Third party VIDIZMO circumvents Flock's facial recognition ban via camera data export
VIDIZMO is offering U.S. police facial recognition and behavior prediction on data exported from the FlockOS camera system, even though Flock has publicly pledged never to implement facial recognition.
VIDIZMO, a long-standing company in video analytics and databases, has, according to an article from 404 Media, begun offering U.S. police departments facial recognition, behavior prediction, and race and gender analysis on live camera footage over the past roughly six months. Crucially, VIDIZMO offers the export of video from the FlockOS platform – a system run by Flock, which operates a network of automatic license plate readers and cameras – into its own platform, where it runs these advanced analytics features.
Flock has publicly stated that it will never add facial recognition to its devices; CEO Garrett Langley confirmed this in a video, saying, "we will not add facial recognition to our devices." According to the source, however, in May 2026 a VIDIZMO sales representative sent an email to the deputy police chief in Johnson City, Tennessee, offering that the company's product can perform facial recognition on data from both Flock and Axon, on "one searchable platform."
The article thus documents that Flock's public commitment not to use facial recognition can be circumvented via a third party that has access to the exported data and offers features that Flock itself refuses to implement. See the source article for details.
Why it matters
The case reveals a privacy gap in camera networks: a primary vendor can publicly commit to not using sensitive technology like facial recognition, yet data from it can flow to other companies that offer the same functionality without restriction. For institutions purchasing or approving such systems (police departments, but also companies operating camera systems), this means risk assessment cannot be limited to one vendor's policy – it's necessary to track who else has access to the data and what they are permitted to do with it.
Relevant practical impact
What this means
For a business
This highlights a risk for companies managing camera or other sensitive data: a vendor's public commitment (e.g., "we won't do facial recognition") does not bind third parties that have access to the data via export or integration, so compliance cannot rely solely on the main provider's statements.
Risks and complianceCheck the original
Event sources
only one source so far · 1 publisher, 1 independent. We count feeds from the same owner only once.