Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen faces Flock protest

San Francisco protesters gathered outside Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's home on Aug. 21, challenging his financial support for police surveillance systems, including automated license plate readers supplied by Flock Safety.

Sunrise Movement Bay Area organized the demonstration as part of a national campaign calling on cities to cancel Flock contracts and remove the company's cameras. Protesters distributed flyers and displayed a mock camera carrying the message, "Does this make you feel safer, Chris?"

Larsen co-founded Ripple and serves as its executive chairman. Brad Garlinghouse, not Larsen, is the company's chief executive.

Sunrise organizer Luc Bouchard argued that cities should direct public-safety funding toward housing, employment and social services. He also questioned whether Flock cameras materially reduce crime.

"There's not much evidence that Flock cameras significantly impact crime rates," Bouchard claimed.

The demonstration focused on Larsen because he has financed several San Francisco public-safety programs. The protesters did not accuse Ripple, XRP or Larsen of violating any law. No arrests or property damage were reported during the event.

The dispute instead centers on whether a wealthy private donor should play such a large role in funding public surveillance infrastructure. It adds a local civil-liberties issue to broader scrutiny of political and civic spending by crypto executives.

The San Francisco Police Community Foundation, founded by Larsen, committed $7.25 million toward relocating and upgrading the police department's Real-Time Investigations Center. Ripple also provided office space at 315 Montgomery Street rent-free through December 2026.

The lease represented approximately $2.15 million of the overall $9.4 million package, according to the foundation's account. The Police Commission, Board of Supervisors and Mayor Daniel Lurie approved the arrangement in 2025.

The center integrates information from emergency calls, police cameras, drones and automated license plate readers. A city statement said the technology helped officers coordinate more than 500 arrests. City officials also associated the program with falling auto theft, although the figures do not establish that surveillance technology alone caused the decline.

San Francisco operates roughly 400 Flock automated license plate readers. The cameras photograph visible plates and record information including the vehicle, location, date and time.

Privacy concerns intensified after a compliance audit found nearly 300 improper searches of San Francisco plate data conducted for federal and out-of-state agencies. California law restricts sharing automated license plate information with those agencies.

SFPD subsequently removed the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center's access to its Flock data. Police said they would strengthen oversight and review data-sharing practices. The improper searches represented a small portion of total queries, but opponents argue that the incident demonstrated how access can extend beyond the original local purpose.

Flock maintains that its customers own their data and control sharing permissions. It also says every search is recorded and connected to an identified user.

Flock announced new safeguards on Aug. 13. The company reduced its recommended default retention period from 30 days to seven days for new deployments, according to its update.

Existing customers can retain previously approved periods. Flock is also introducing Evidence Mode, which allows investigators to preserve selected records connected to active cases.

Other changes include mandatory misuse detection, required case codes, multifactor authentication and controls allowing agencies to restrict data sharing by offense type. Flock said the measures would improve accountability, but their effectiveness will depend on adoption and enforcement by participating agencies.

Organizers are expected to continue pressing Bay Area cities to end their Flock contracts. San Francisco officials have not announced plans to remove the cameras, while Larsen has not issued a public response to the protest.

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