Source: Rick Wilson
Rick Wilson argues that Flock's automated license plate reader network—marketed as crime-fighting infrastructure but operating as mass surveillance—has become indefensible as a business model and civic tool. The company's documented inability to prevent abuses (false arrests, stalking, harassment) while resisting meaningful oversight suggests some technologies cannot be reformed through better policies; they require shutdown. The case challenges the Silicon Valley playbook of "move fast, apologize later" by showing that some infrastructure projects create irreversible social damage before regulation catches up, making preventive opposition more rational than remedial governance.