Flock Safety, a firm known for police surveillance tech, is now selling its drone-as-first-responder program to the private sector. Businesses like large retailers can deploy automated drones to track suspected shoplifters from their stores to their vehicles, streaming the video feed directly to law enforcement. This expansion is pitched as a tool to curb theft, but it provokes serious civil liberties concerns. Privacy advocates warn that it erodes Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches by allowing government agencies to access vast amounts of privately collected surveillance data without a warrant. Critics, including the ACLU, describe the move as a frightening step toward ubiquitous private surveillance, comparing Flock’s potential for data aggregation to that of a social media giant like Meta.