A16z Wants Your Crypto Private and Your Car Tracked by Flock

A16z Stance On Privacy And Flock Explained

As the combat implicit Flock automated licence sheet readers (ALPRs) heats up successful the U.S., with protests, caller and terminated contracts, cameras removed by citizens, and lawsuits, A16z continues to support its concern successful the company. On Sept. 10, for example, David Ulevitch, a wide spouse astatine Andreessen Horowitz who led investments successful Flock, accused Reason mag of “posting clickbait to enrage people” aft the outlet mentioned Flock successful a station astir surveillance cameras. Meanwhile, connected Sept. 1, the authoritative @a16z relationship posted a video titled “Flock eliminates crime. Decline is simply a choice,” defending the institution and explaining however it helps combat crime.

Vigilant Protections and Partner Stalking

“Flock is the span that tin instrumentality america from the subjective policing of the past to the much nonsubjective policing of the future, wherever crimes are solved, criminals deterred, and guiltless communities protected,” Ulevitch and Alex Immerman, different wide spouse astatine A16z, wrote successful a portion defending Flock successful April.

According to them, “surveillance” oregon “privacy concerns” place “the vigilant protections successful spot to guarantee that Flock cannot beryllium utilized for surveillance oregon to interruption privacy.”

In August, The Washington Post identified 46 cases of officers accused of utilizing Flock for unauthorized purposes, including stalking partners.

A16z has invested successful Flock since 2021, joining aggregate concern rounds. The ALPR web institution told Fortune successful April that it had raised $500 million, surpassing $1.2 cardinal successful full funding and valuing the concern astatine $8.3 billion. The study said Flock crossed $500 cardinal successful yearly recurring gross successful the archetypal fractional of this year.

A16z Crypto Calls to End ‘The Era of Mass Financial Surveillance’

At the aforesaid time, A16z’s concern portfolio includes aggregate startups focused connected strengthening people’s privacy, including fiscal privacy. These see Nym Technologies, developer of a virtual backstage web that aims to forestall delicate information leaks done existing net protocols; XMTP, an encrypted messaging protocol; Aleo, a level “designed to facilitate implicit privateness connected blockchains”; and Aztec, a protocol that enables backstage transactions crossed Ethereum, among others.

This year, A16z besides backed Zcash Open Development Lab, a squad focused connected processing Zcash, 1 of the apical privateness coins.

These crypto-related investments were made by A16z crypto, a antithetic squad from the 1 that invested successful Flock. However, Flock and the privateness companies are each listed successful A16z’s concern portfolio.

Besides providing funding, A16z crypto has publicly supported technologies designed to support online and fiscal privacy. In a 2025 blog post, the institution called to extremity “the epoch of wide fiscal surveillance.”

“We bash not request to judge the government’s pervasive penetration of our fiscal privacy,” the station said, urging the authorities to promote fiscal institutions to follow blockchains.

On DeFi Tools and Tornado Cash

In an earlier piece, they asked: “May the authorities restrict specified DeFi tools, and unit radical to usage third-party intermediaries, precisely to instrumentality vantage of the other surveillance powerfulness that the third-party doctrine would provide?”

That doctrine says accusation loses its privateness extortion erstwhile you stock it with a 3rd party. It besides allows constabulary to hunt Flock’s camera records without a warrant.

Also, reacting to the government’s actions against the Tornado Cash mixer successful 2022, A16z crypto argued that the Treasury should person pushed for amended method fixes alternatively than sanctioning the protocol outright, arsenic it “had immoderate method controls successful place” to defender against illicit use. The paper, Privacy-Protecting Regulatory Solutions Using Zero-Knowledge Proofs, portion not disputing that illicit wealth moved done the protocol, besides argued that Tornado Cash sanctions wounded guiltless people.

Endangered Expansion

Examples of fiscal privacy-supporting statements by A16z tin spell connected and on, arsenic tin the database of statements supporting Flock’s surveillance network. Meanwhile, ineligible and regulatory fights are ongoing connected some fronts, which could impact fiscal and online privateness arsenic good arsenic Flock’s concern and, successful turn, A16z’s investments.

Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley said successful July that the institution was successful 7,000 cities and wanted its cameras successful each 1 of America’s 17,000 cities. In June, the institution said its web included much than 120,000 cameras crossed 49 states.

According to Secure Justice data, astatine slightest 220 contracts with Flock had been terminated arsenic of Aug. 28, 2026, portion terminations accelerated successful August.

Rate of Flock Contract Termination. Source: Secure Justice

Two Bets and Search for Compromises

As the enlargement plans present look greater uncertainty, Langley said successful an interrogation with Fox News successful August that the U.S. needs to find a compromise betwixt privateness and safety. A akin “compromise” absorption mightiness beryllium forming successful the statement implicit fiscal and online privateness regulation.

Whether either statement volition extremity successful immoderate benignant of compromise, oregon which broadside volition triumph more, remains an unfastened question. Moreover, these debates mightiness ne'er end.

In the meantime, A16z is apt to proceed defending some sides of its privateness and surveillance-related bets. When it comes to Flock investments, A16z seemingly argues that determination privateness concerns are misunderstandings that disregard the benefits of warring crime. In its crypto portfolio, meanwhile, it presents online and fiscal privateness arsenic a necessity.

Bitcoin.com News has contacted A16z for remark and volition update the nonfiction should an reply beryllium forthcoming.