[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-wired-rebuilds-flocks-ai-search-tool-from-browser-code":10,"sections":41},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":30,"tags":31,"sources":36,"feedback":40,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":40,"total_tokens":40},6040,"wired-rebuilds-flocks-ai-search-tool-from-browser-code","WIRED Rebuilds Flock's AI Search Tool From Browser Code","WIRED reverse-engineered the code Flock sends to police browsers and found an AI tool that hunts people across camera feeds using only a written description.","Flock's police search tool can now hunt a specific person across an entire camera network based on nothing but a written description.\n\nFlock hadn't detailed the feature publicly, so WIRED reconstructed it directly from the code the company ships to a police officer's browser. According to WIRED's rebuild, the interface lets an officer type a description of a person and have the AI scan footage from multiple cameras at once for a match. The company did not make this interface available for outside review before WIRED's investigation. That WIRED had to pull the tool apart from client-side code, rather than being shown it, is itself part of the story.\n\nThis is a meaningful jump for Flock, whose name has mostly been tied to license-plate reading. Matching plates is a narrow, mechanical task. Matching a person to a text description across camera feeds is a much fuzzier, more consequential kind of AI judgment call, and it puts Flock in the same territory as facial-recognition vendors that have drawn years of scrutiny over accuracy and bias.\n\nThe pattern is familiar: the public learns what a policing AI tool actually does not from a spec sheet, but from someone taking apart the code after the fact.","[\"flock\",\"police surveillance\",\"ai search\",\"facial recognition\"]","2026-09-03T10:00:00.000Z","2026-09-03T10:59:55.723Z","2026-09-03T11:00:07.610Z","published",null,[24],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Attribute the investigation explicitly to WIRED (per the source) instead of vaguely saying 'a reporter' — the whole piece rests on WIRED's code reconstruction and should credit it directly rather than implying anonymous or in-house reporting.","resolved","policy",[32,33,34,35],"flock","police surveillance","ai search","facial recognition",[37],{"name":38,"url":39},"Wired","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.wired.com\u002Fstory\u002Fflock-ai-search-user-interface\u002F",0,{"sections":42},[43,48,53,57,62,67,72,77,82,87,92,97,102,107],{"name":44,"slug":45,"count":46,"latest_published_at":47},"AI","ai",3385,"2026-09-04T22:17:36.000Z",{"name":49,"slug":50,"count":51,"latest_published_at":52},"Security","security",565,"2026-09-05T00:03:08.000Z",{"name":54,"slug":30,"count":55,"latest_published_at":56},"Policy",300,"2026-09-04T22:18:34.000Z",{"name":58,"slug":59,"count":60,"latest_published_at":61},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":63,"slug":64,"count":65,"latest_published_at":66},"Hardware","hardware",152,"2026-09-03T09:26:48.000Z",{"name":68,"slug":69,"count":70,"latest_published_at":71},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",97,"2026-09-04T15:29:18.000Z",{"name":73,"slug":74,"count":75,"latest_published_at":76},"Science","science",96,"2026-09-03T22:30:00.000Z",{"name":78,"slug":79,"count":80,"latest_published_at":81},"Software","software",73,"2026-08-18T07:51:50.000Z",{"name":83,"slug":84,"count":85,"latest_published_at":86},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",69,"2026-08-18T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":88,"slug":89,"count":90,"latest_published_at":91},"Startups","startups",54,"2026-09-04T23:36:14.000Z",{"name":93,"slug":94,"count":95,"latest_published_at":96},"Gaming","gaming",41,"2026-07-09T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":98,"slug":99,"count":100,"latest_published_at":101},"General","general",37,"2026-09-04T20:22:41.000Z",{"name":103,"slug":104,"count":105,"latest_published_at":106},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":108,"slug":109,"count":110,"latest_published_at":111},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]