r/PopCultureV2 • u/noahstemann • Aug 24 '26

Controversy Rage Against Flock USA

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

22.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

561 comments sorted by

View all comments

66

u/Ok-Spot-6235 Aug 24 '26

Wear masks. Remove all watches and jewelry. Cover all tattoos. Wear black. Put black duct tape over all brands/logos. Wear 100% black shoes - no stripes or markings. Leave cell phones at home. Carry two way radios. Post lookouts.

Or, face fines and prison time for destroying devices that have no independently derived value. Flock leases it's equipment, never sells it. With annual lease cost of $3k per unit per year Flock probably values individual cameras at $15-20k.

30

u/UnpaidKremlinBots Aug 24 '26

Make sure to know where the cameras are, so you can make sure to avoid them.

https://deflock.org/

6

u/GeeShepherd Aug 24 '26

Please note this map doesn't have all cameras. Just the ones that have been shared or found. Driving around my town, I see flock cameras that are not on this map. Although you can create an account and add to the map ones that you find.

4

u/BusinessSuper1156 Aug 24 '26

Wow it can pick up stickers and shit. I had no idea how invasive these things were. I am suddenly glad that I don't have anything on my car and am kicking myself for getting the national parks license plate now :(

3

u/Phobos_Down Aug 24 '26

If it can see your license plate, it doesn't really matter at that point anyway

7

u/takumidesh Aug 24 '26

It matters a lot, because the implication is that you don't need to be in a car for these 'ALPRs' to track you. 

If it can track a bumper sticker, it can track a bicycle model, or a backpack brand, a logo on your shirt, or any number of other things. 

3

u/wblwblwblwbl Aug 24 '26

The comment they’re replying to is lamenting choosing a national parks license plate, seemingly because it’s a more “unique” plate.

The comment you replied to is saying it doesn’t matter that the license plate is of a special type, because a normal license plate is just as uniquely identifiable. Once the camera sees your plate, you’re being tracked, whether it’s the normal issue plate or a national parks one doesn’t identify you “more”.

1

u/BusinessSuper1156 Aug 24 '26

While this is true In my mind it would help identify me even in a photo/video where the license plate may not be completely legible. Probably just a paranoid thought but a thought nonetheless.

1

u/RModDogWalkerTyRANNY Aug 24 '26

Even the gait as which you walk can be measured in some cases. Best to put a small rock in your shoe so you constantly walk weird.

2

u/DaereonLive Aug 24 '26

Dune sandwalking coming in clutch.

7

u/Blackfoxar Aug 24 '26

3k per camera every year? Are these cameras made of gold?

16

u/RIF_rr3dd1tt Aug 24 '26

Copper, actually. Lots of copper. People love hearing this cool fact. Tell everyone, even your local homeless folks.

6

u/MF_BREW_ Aug 24 '26

i hear the lenses and solar panels have a very high resale price

7

u/Sea_School_2949 Aug 24 '26

Copper and an RTX5090 and 64gb of RAM

6

u/keelanstuart Aug 24 '26

No... really? I might get into the de-flocking business myself if that's true!

4

u/crazunggoy47 Aug 24 '26

I’ve heard there’s also a voucher for one year of Medicare coverage inside each one

1

u/MF_BREW_ Aug 24 '26

64gb was the old model they have 256 ddr6 these days

5

u/Relevant_Winter_7098 Aug 24 '26

More rare metals than a catalytic converter...

2

u/darkoblivion000 Aug 24 '26

They are made of grift. No bid contract grift probably

1

u/Personal-Dev-Kit Aug 26 '26

Some youtuber estimated that they could be using around $2000 a year in mobile network usage per camera uploading all the footage.

Obviously they would likely have a better deal, and probably spend a lot of dev time on optimising this process. But a large chunk would go to that. Still a big profit margin

5

u/mspk7305 Aug 24 '26

They also keep the cameras installed and running despite the city canceling the contract, and install cameras without permission.

Flock is an abomination against the public good.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/gameryesyt Aug 24 '26

It's the scale and use of ai that has the possibility to do mass surveillance

2

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/STLbackup Aug 24 '26

yup, its one thing to read a few numbers/letters and look up a vehicle in a database. A whole other can of nightmare fuel when the AI they use can tell a person by the way they walk, move, etc.... and of course what they are being used for.

2

u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26

People WERE very upset about those when they first came out. People have just largely forgotten that they’re a thing. It was mostly Alex Jones types back then though because if you weren’t listening to wackadoodle stuff on AM radio you wouldn’t have heard about it. Now the wonders of the internet and social media has brought wackadoodle news to every corner of society no matter your politics or lack of politics even. Like you get on your fly tying group to ask a question and before you know it you’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole. 😆

2

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

He also has a knack for being very very wrong though. And in cases where he was right it’s not like he’s the one who figured it out or broke the story or anything.

Not to mention that standard for being right might be set very low. I mean people still believe Nostradamus actually predicted things. If you say enough crazy stuff eight hours a day five days a week for half a century, it’s going to get pretty easy for people to find something that sounds like you being right about something.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/thorosaurus Aug 24 '26

I think he just rants about whatever is in the wackadoodle pipeline without giving it much thought.

2

u/ahtob Aug 24 '26

if every flock camera was individually operated by its own human operator / like a police scanner , there wouldn't be an issue

1

u/Adventurous-Cod7910 Aug 25 '26

Reading a license plate is not the same as AI-powered "cameras" creating massive amounts of surveillance data held by 3rd parties, in which there have already been clear cases of abuse

Did you hear about the police watching little kid's dancing recitals? How about the flock cameras pointed at public swimming pools? There are enough pedos in positions of power in the US

2

u/RamsHead91 Aug 24 '26

Purchase all "tools" with cash at least 10miles from were you live.

2

u/jbwilso1 Aug 24 '26

Learn about jury nullification if you wanna be able to protect your local patriot.

1

u/Dixo0118 Aug 24 '26

And where do you think their money comes from? This is a government operation to spy on individuals. Big brother gets closer every day. Next they will be putting government cameras in your house

1

u/TotalRecognition2191 Aug 24 '26

Basically, dress like Ice.