Flock and Axon received invitations to testify before the Senate about their surveillance technology. They declined. Senator Josh Hawley threatened subpoenas. The executives still didn't show up.
Two companies that sell cameras and software to watch people decided they'd rather not be watched themselves. The irony meter just exploded and killed three retail traders who were long $IRNY at market open.
Hawley chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. He wanted to ask questions about facial recognition and license plate readers. The kind of technology that tracks your every movement and stores it forever. The executives who profit from this apparently had better things to do. Maybe they were busy not being surveilled.
Axon makes body cameras and tasers for cops. Flock makes license plate readers that municipalities install on every street corner. Both companies have turned public spaces into panopticons. Both companies think congressional oversight is optional.
A subpoena forces you to show up. It's not a suggestion. It's a legal command backed by contempt charges. Hawley floated the idea before the hearing. The executives called his bluff. They looked at a senator from Missouri threatening legal action and said no thanks, we're good.
This is the surveillance state eating itself. The people who built the infrastructure to track everyone else refuse to answer questions about it. They won't even pretend to care about accountability. They just ignore the Senate and hope nobody notices.
Retail traders saw this news and immediately started researching both companies to see if they're publicly traded. Axon is ticker $AXON. Flock is private. This means half of you just tried to buy shares in a company that doesn't exist on any exchange and blamed your broker when the order failed.
Photo by Rogelio Gonzalez on Unsplash
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