OT: Thoughts on the growing prevalence of Flock surveillance cameras

[DJ Spanky]

Are we getting closer to George Orwell's 1984?

Map shows Flock camera locations in every state amid growing backlash

Flock Safety’s network of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) cameras has expanded rapidly across the United States, with the company saying its technology is now used by thousands of law enforcement agencies and communities nationwide.

Privacy-focused mapping site FlockHopper, which tracks Flock and other ALPR cameras, currently identifies more than 120,000 camera locations across the U.S., showing the sheer scale of the growing surveillance network.

In simple terms, an ALPR camera is a high-speed surveillance camera that automatically photographs vehicles as they pass and uses optical character recognition technology to read license plates.

The information is then stored in a searchable database that law enforcement can use during investigations to help with tasks such as recovering stolen vehicles, tracking suspects connected to crimes, locating missing people, identifying vehicles seen near crime scenes, and generating alerts when a wanted vehicle passes a camera.

 

[Knight Shift]

Are we getting closer to George Orwell's 1984?

Map shows Flock camera locations in every state amid growing backlash

They were being used in Sedona, AZ, where we spend a fair amount of time, and they were removed. Sedona literally told them to Get the Flock out of town.

Sedona City Council tells staff to get Flock out of town - Sedona Red Rock News

The Sedona City Council made the unanimous decision to cancel its contract with Flock Safety and to remove the currently installed 11 automated license plate readers during its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 9. “This underscores the importance of independent media in a democracy. As much as I...

www.redrocknews.com

John Carpenter was ahead of his time in 1988 when the movie They Live! was made.

 

[DJ Spanky]

They were being used in Sedona, AZ, where we spend a fair amount of time, and they were removed. Sedona literally told them to Get the Flock out of town.

Sedona City Council tells staff to get Flock out of town - Sedona Red Rock News

The Sedona City Council made the unanimous decision to cancel its contract with Flock Safety and to remove the currently installed 11 automated license plate readers during its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 9. “This underscores the importance of independent media in a democracy. As much as I...

www.redrocknews.com

So they were told to make like a shepherd and get the flock out of here? Was it a Flock of Seagulls? Did they go to Iran?

 

[Knight Shift]

So they were told to make like a shepherd and get the flock out of here? Was it a Flock of Seagulls? Did they go to Iran?

Not Iran, but I heard they were Irate when they were asked to fly the coop. All of the chickens went home to roost. Their system was for the birds. But the City Council was tired of listing to all the chirping from residents. But when the council gave the original approval they were just winging it, like a bunch of bird brains.

 

[Anon1754923206]

The nanny state LOVES them…

 

[MADHAT1]

From a google search ( yes Big Brother is watching you drive, everywhere)
Flock Safety operates in 49 states, meaning there is only one U.S. state without an active presence of its automated license plate reading cameras. The specific single state that does not have Flock camera deployment is not explicitly named or singled out in public corporate disclosures, which only generally state coverage across 49 states.

Exact figures for the largest deployment are difficult to pinpoint because the company treats local government networks as proprietary. However, public records and city transparency portals indicate that major metropolitan hubs with the highest number of installed Flock cameras include Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Dallas/Fort Worth

 

[RUTGERS95]

Are we getting closer to George Orwell's 1984?

Map shows Flock camera locations in every state amid growing backlash

Getting???

Against them as every freedom loving American should be

 

[MADHAT1]

Getting???

Against them as every freedom loving American should be

Surveillance cameras are the next step, already one has been set up in a site controlled by the National Park Service in Washington DC
From a google search
Also DC has an extensive network of surveillance cameras set up across public spaces, streets, and federal grounds.

 

[Knight Shift]

Getting???

Against them as every freedom loving American should be

Don't forget that with EZ Pass, those records have been used by law enforcement to track locations of people involved in crimes.

 

[Rutgers Chris]

I watch too much Netflix true crime to be completely against them

 

[Bueller]

Cameras coming to car interiors as a well for "wellness monitoring".

Windows 11 screencaps users desktop every minute. It also sorts through photos and calls to delete blurry pics and categorize them "for you."

IoT - Internet of Things - uses low power Bluetooth networking in appliances, phones, cars and you can't turn on or off. An IoT (Internet of Things) car is a vehicle equipped with sensors, software, and internet connectivity, allowing it to communicate with the cloud, other vehicles (V2V), and infrastructure (V2I). This technology enables real-time data exchange, predictive maintenance, remote smartphone control, and over-the-air (OTA) updates." In Germany BMW just threatened to throttle car speed if owners didn't use car batteries more than gas. We are already in a full web of surveillance

Windows is full on muscling in on users data and activities. People are finally ditching CoPilot and Gemini and all the apps with AI genies built-in. Its a good time to get on linux. Windows 10 better than 11. Phones, computers, cars, Iot washing machines , TVs, CBDC, AI takeover of system (that way "the system" can act on you without anyone being blamed "the AI says your tax returns are wrong according to your finances" (already spied on by CFPB). US well on the way to being China

Linus Tech ready to get off Windows

 

[PSU_Nut]

Don't forget that with EZ Pass, those records have been used by law enforcement to track locations of people involved in crimes.

The major difference is in most states to access that data police need to obtain a search warrant. It not the fact that the tool is out there that a lot of people have issues with. It the fact there is no gatekeeping for proper use.

 

[fsng]

I watch too much Netflix true crime to be completely against them

This reminded me of every British crime show I've watched. They're always pulling CCTV footage from the scene and nearby neighborhoods.

 

[93RUDoc]

I love it, gives law enforcement more help in reducing violent crime. My car got totaled from behind in a violent hit and run, in New brunswick ,but in an area with no CCTV so the cops couldnt do anything.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Americans of All Political Ideologies Unite for Privacy Against Flock Surveillance Cameras

 

[93RUDoc]

Nice Rutgers95

 

[DHajekRC1984]

This reminded me of every British crime show I've watched. They're always pulling CCTV footage from the scene and nearby neighborhoods.

My cousin was just found dead in Baltimore last week. She had been missing since late June and hoped alive for weeks because they tracked her car and saw her on different camera's. Using that info to conduct the search with Police, dogs, and drones.

Unfortunately in spite of that they searched the wrong areas and the body was discovered by a driver who stopped to retrieve an inflatable boat that had flown off the roof of her car. She was from Phillipsburg.

Skeletal remains found in Baltimore County tributary positively ID as missing NJ woman

The skeletal remains found last week have been positively identified as 46-year-old Kimberly Gordon, a New Jersey woman who was reported missing, police said.

foxbaltimore.com

I kid you not.

 

[mdk02]

Americans of All Political Ideologies Unite for Privacy Against Flock Surveillance Cameras

Interesting discussion in the article about retention limits. Sometimes 30 days, but New Hampshire is 3 minutes. 3 minutes given cases of carjacking and kid snatching seems to me to be an acceptable intrusion on our rights of privacy.

 

[LETSGORU91]

"So sayeth the sheppard! So sayeth the flock!" Anyone?

 

[DJ Spanky]

"So sayeth the sheppard! So sayeth the flock!" Anyone?

Flockin' A man!

 

[mdk02]

All over the news this weekend about how a car that was stolen with a 2 year old in the back seat was found and stopped in less than an hour because of plate tracking. As I said earlier, while info retention should be limited as some jurisdictions do, I disagree with an outright ban.

 

[newell138]

Like any technology there are pros and cons but we are past the point of no return.

 

[iReC89]

I think private surveillance on the scale of Flock is a little concerning but I have no problem with the gov doing it to fight crime.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Soon enough, the information captured will be sold to insurance companies who will get approval from their buddies in government to use that data to evaluate driver behavior in order to deny insurance, raise rates or refuse payment out to clients.

 

[Bueller]

Flock drones coming on. https://www.flocksafety.com/products/flock-dfr

"Safety" is an excuse. Life becomes more unsafe by ineptitude and design. Then people causing it come to the rescue. Its all for you and the children



Anyone who played Half Life 2 back to 2004 knows how Gordon Freeman always had to fight off drones tracking him.

 

[DJ Spanky]

This is such a slippery slope, because despite promises that the data won't be retained, or shared, or given to the government, or whatever, the possibility and the temptation is there. Sooner or later it will be used for this. But not any farther. Then it will be used for that. But not any farther. And on and on and on. And regardless of any promises made that "it will be erased" trust me, it is ALWAYS recoverable. And if there's a powerful enough motivation to do so, it will happen.

 

[mdk02]

This is such a slippery slope, because despite promises that the data won't be retained, or shared, or given to the government, or whatever, the possibility and the temptation is there. Sooner or later it will be used for this. But not any farther. Then it will be used for that. But not any farther. And on and on and on. And regardless of any promises made that "it will be erased" trust me, it is ALWAYS recoverable. And if there's a powerful enough motivation to do so, it will happen.

So what do you say to the parents of the 2 year old?

 

[DJ Spanky]

And there we have it folks.

 

[24Babybull]

Who pays for Flock Cameras to be installed?

Local government entities, private neighborhoods, or commercial businesses pay for Flock Safety camera deployments through annual service contracts.

It's your town putting up these cameras not Peter Thiel or Elon Musk or Trump it's your neighbors so let them know.

 

[Rutgers Chris]

This is such a slippery slope, because despite promises that the data won't be retained, or shared, or given to the government, or whatever, the possibility and the temptation is there. Sooner or later it will be used for this. But not any farther. Then it will be used for that. But not any farther. And on and on and on. And regardless of any promises made that "it will be erased" trust me, it is ALWAYS recoverable. And if there's a powerful enough motivation to do so, it will happen.

Just watched the Netflix doc on the university of Idaho murders. He almost definitely gets away with it if they didn’t find a likely family match to his dna via 23andme or one of those registries. No idea how that data sharing works but that surprised me

 

[MADHAT1]

It;s a hard choice when thinking about the benefits of Flock and it's drawbacks .
On one hand iy;s surveillance can benefit public safety , but catching criminals in the act and alerting first responders where they are needed when accidents, fires and other incidents require their assistance

On the other hand constant surveillance could lead to privacy issues and become government overreach meant to control the public's freedom by spying on those who speak out on policies they object to ,finding cause to arrest them for any reason the government can find .
Hackers also might get into the system and use what they find in it in a way that could hurt the general public or those they plan to target.

For now I won't say it's more beneficial than harmful, nor will I say it's a problem .
I just don't know enough about the flaws and advantages surveillance cameras have to make an informed decision

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Soon enough, the information captured will be sold to insurance companies who will get approval from their buddies in government to use that data to evaluate driver behavior in order to deny insurance, raise rates or refuse payment out to clients.

Some form of that already happening, but in the opposite direction at least in this case:

 

[RUTGERS95]

Soon enough, the information captured will be sold to insurance companies who will get approval from their buddies in government to use that data to evaluate driver behavior in order to deny insurance, raise rates or refuse payment out to clients.

already there as new cars track your driving and have been used in court.

 

[RUTGERS95]

This is such a slippery slope, because despite promises that the data won't be retained, or shared, or given to the government, or whatever, the possibility and the temptation is there. Sooner or later it will be used for this. But not any farther. Then it will be used for that. But not any farther. And on and on and on. And regardless of any promises made that "it will be erased" trust me, it is ALWAYS recoverable. And if there's a powerful enough motivation to do so, it will happen.

a cop recently used this to track and girl and stalk her

Keep the data for a 36hr period and then it's deleted. I'm absolutely not a fan and feel the gov't has zero right to track any of my movements

 

[RUTGERS95]

So what do you say to the parents of the 2 year old?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/

 

[DJ Spanky]

Keep the data for a 36hr period and then it's deleted. I'm absolutely not a fan and feel the gov't has zero right to track any of my movements

And how do you guarantee it gets deleted? Who oversees that? What happens when the government steps in for whatever reason and says: "We need to hold onto it a little longer"? There are so many, many ways to abuse this - how do you stop it? How do you guarantee it never happens? What about when the government sets up an institution like the Disinformation Governance Board to monitor people? I could go on and on, but you get the point.

 

[Knight Shift]

 

[DJ Spanky]

Flock Safety camera contracts canceled in 23 states over plate-data access

NPR reported that Flock has contracts with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, while activists tracking the devices have mapped tens of thousands of license plate readers across the country. That scale is part of why the cancellations matter: a single city’s camera is no longer just a single city’s camera if its data can be queried through broader networks.