{"id":441596,"date":"2026-08-24T00:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T00:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441596\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T00:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T00:32:09","slug":"activists-descend-on-billionaire-chris-larsens-san-francisco-mansion-over-flock-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441596\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists descend on billionaire Chris Larsen’s San Francisco mansion over Flock cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"

Activists showed up at cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen<\/a>\u2018s San Francisco mansion to protest his support of Flock cameras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A coalition of over 20 immigrant rights groups, climate organizers and others are demonstrating as part of the \u201cNational Week of Action Against Automated License Plate Readers.\u201d<\/p>\n

They erected dummy yellow cardboard cameras outside Larsen\u2019s Bay Area home<\/a> with signs inscribed with: \u201cDoes this make you feel safer, Chris?\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters parked themselves in front of Chris Larsen\u2019s home Friday.<\/p>\n

Activists have also launched a website: billionairewatchparty.com.<\/p>\n

The protesters on Friday also pasted bright-pink posters with the image of a shocked doll\u2019s face and arrows pointing toward the installed Flock cameras. \u201cThere is a Flock camera on this pole. Do something,\u201d read the poster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much evidence that Flock cameras significantly impact crime rates,\u201d Luc Bouchard, an organizer with Sunrise Movement Bay Area, claimed to ABC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bouchard also accused Larsen of investing \u201cmore than any tech billionaire in the tech surveillance system in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe feels that he\u2019s entitled to watch us; we came to his house to watch him,\u201d Bouchard said.<\/p>\n

Vigilantes installed bright-yellow dummy \u201ccameras\u201d around Larsen\u2019s mansion.<\/p>\n

Chris Larsen during a Bloomberg Television interview in San Francisco. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The series of protests comes on the heels of rising mass surveillance concerns among residents in California and across the nation. <\/p>\n

More than 117,000 automated license\u00a0plate readers from Flock Safety<\/a> are located across the country, including more than 16,000 in California alone, according to a DeFlock map. Flock\u2019s cameras account for about 83% of the map\u2019s total.<\/p>\n

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Most of the cameras in the Golden State are\u00a0in Los Angeles<\/a> or the Bay Area. San Francisco County ranked third in the nation for cameras per road mile with 1,196 per 1,000 miles, according to the data.<\/p>\n

Online tool\u00a0DeFlock.org<\/a>\u00a0had also revealed earlier this month that controversial Flock cameras were installed across six locations in Yosemite National Park despite\u00a0mass surveillance concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, park officials claimed that the cameras are not designed to read license plates but to help control traffic.<\/p>\n

Authorized users can reconstruct a vehicle\u2019s route by mapping photos and locations stored by a Flock camera.<\/p>\n

More than 16,000 Flock cameras are installed in California, according to a DeFlock map.<\/p>\n

Amid mounting scrutiny from privacy advocates and politicians, Flock Safety had announced earlier this month that it will reduce the duration of data stored by the license-plate cameras from 30 days to just seven.<\/p>\n

The company had also assured that cops would have to justify every search.<\/p>\n

CEO Garrett Langley told the California Post<\/a> the overhaul amounts to the toughest license-plate-reader policy in the country.<\/p>\n

Activists showed up at cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen\u2019s San Francisco mansion to protest his support of Flock cameras. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

About\u00a090% of investigative searches on\u00a0Flock\u2019s system<\/a>\u00a0already occur within seven days, according to Langley.<\/p>\n

Mounted on streetlights, these cameras capture images of passing vehicles and log their license plates. Authorized users can reconstruct a vehicle\u2019s route by mapping these photos and locations.<\/p>\n

The system automatically converts the imagery into searchable database records by indexing license plates, model, color, unique features and timestamps.<\/p>\n

The LAPD has already suspended its contract with the company over privacy and data security fears.<\/p>\n

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