Surveillance camera maker Flock is trimming its workforce, because nothing says "building a strong, sustainable business" quite like an 18% staff reduction amid a growing privacy backlash. According to Reuters, the company is cutting around 270 employees across the board, with those departures taking effect at the end of October following a voluntary buyout program. Wired reported last month that Flock was already nudging some employees toward the exit, citing the need to shrink staff to avoid mandatory layoffs - because nothing motivates voluntary departures like the looming threat of involuntary ones.

Flock spokesperson Paris Lewbel told TechCrunch on Friday: "Flock recently offered current employees a generous Voluntary Separation Program as part of our efforts to position the company for its next phase of growth. This was a voluntary program, not a layoff, and reflects our continued focus on building a strong, sustainable business for the future." The spokesperson declined to say whether CEO Garrett Langley or other executives took a pay cut as part of the program, which is the corporate equivalent of saying "we're all in this together" while quietly checking who's actually in the lifeboat.

The "next phase of growth" comes as Flock faces mounting pushback from communities and legislators across the United States looking to rein in its privately run mass surveillance program. The company has installed over 100,000 license plate-reading cameras across the country, allowing police and federal agents to track the location and whereabouts of vehicles passing by. Dozens of police officers have been arrested, fired, or forced to resign for abusing access to Flock's system to search, track, and stalk people without a warrant or their permission - proving that when you build a tool for mass surveillance, some people will use it for mass surveillance. Shocking.

Some cities have moved to take down Flock's cameras citing public outcry, only for Flock to quickly replace them, prompting some Americans to take matters into their own hands and destroy the cameras. Flock has also been criticized for poor cybersecurity, including allowing cameras to be publicly exposed and accessible from the web - because if you're going to run a surveillance network, you might as well leave the door open. Security experts have questioned the system's accuracy after it misidentified license plates, resulting in improper police stops and arrests, including a journalist driving an authorized review vehicle. Several law enforcement departments, including the Los Angeles Police Department, have allowed their contracts to expire or lapse, citing privacy and civil liberties concerns - which is a polite way of saying they'd rather not be sued into the next century.

So Flock is downsizing, the cameras are staying up (or being replaced), and the only thing growing faster than the backlash is the list of reasons why. The company insists this is all part of positioning itself for future growth, which is a bold prediction given that its business model relies on cities not changing their minds. Good luck with that.