this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2026
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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 69 points 4 days ago (4 children)

I really, really hope people don't go out en masse and destroy every single Flock camera that is unconstitutionally filming and profiling them, because it would be a terrible crime to do so. Definitely do not do this people.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Definitely don't remind people to leave their phones at home or use a Faraday bag to shield their tech.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Indeed. Not having those signals to trace could make it significantly more difficult for law enforcement to identify you, and we certainly don't want the essential job of law enforcement to be inhibited.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Also people shouldn't be wearing masks. That would be make them even harder to identify for law enforcement.

People also shouldn’t pair those masks with infrared-blocking sunglasses or goggles. Because the cameras can see in infrared, and will see straight through regular darkened lenses.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Camera can still track you with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, keep that in mind

[–] GalacticRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It can't if you leave your phone and electronics at home, which you should be anyways.

Only the most dastardly vandals would leave their phone (and all other Bluetooth devices) at home, plugged in charging, auto-lock fully disabled, on their home WiFi, with YouTube set to auto-play a playlist. That would create a watch history that the vandal could later use to prove that they were active at home at the time of the crime. Again, you definitely shouldn’t do that.

[–] jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago (3 children)

they probably are constitutional, but only because the constitution says nothing about tge government buying data from private companies.

[–] anewfox@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

yep, flock exists purely to get around the 4th amendment and the requirement to have a warrant.

[–] 5318008@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

9th amendment.

It's the best amendment, despite being, legally, the most useless.

I would argue that it was meant to cover the kind of situation where a private company is given government permission to gather surveillance data from the citizenry, in exchange for access to said data.

[–] shiroininja@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

People are downvoting you, but you’re right. It’s one of the reasons why the constitution is weak in the modern era, and in need of massive additions. It just is too vague, too geared towards a world that no longer exists, and hasn’t existed for over 70 years.

[–] jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

they are? I guess the votes haven't federated yet

[–] shiroininja@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

They were, but it seems you’re being upvoted now.

[–] Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca 1 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Not American. What is flock? Is this like a ring doorbell? Are people suggesting to destroy personal property of their neighbours?

Or is this like some government cameras that are in public spaces filming ?

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 21 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Or is this like some government cameras that are in public spaces filming ?

It's a nationwide network of cameras used by federal, state, and local governments to track and profile people in public. It doesn't just record, but builds a database of information on every car, license plate, and person that's filmed, so it's seen to be very dystopian.

Even worse, the tech gets it wrong and mistaken identity is common, and it ends up endangering people due to the violent methods US police employ. However, it's privacy concerns that are foremost, because there's an amendment in our country's Constitution that should prohibit this kind of privacy violation.

If you'd like to learn more, I made a YT video on the topic recently.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago (3 children)

don't forget how many of them are just straight up creep cameras, installed pointing at childrens pools, playgrounds, peoples homes, etc.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's a revenue stream for Flock. Allowing members of the Epstein Class to view the stream of children.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

explains the millions of hits per month on the cameras.

And this is why calling them “license plate readers” is hugely disingenuous, to the point of being straight up propaganda. The term vastly downplays what they can do. They don’t just scan license plates. They scan nearby devices’ Bluetooth and WiFi signals. They scan faces. They scan gait to determine specific limb proportions. They scan tattoos and birthmarks. They scan bumper stickers, dings/dents, etc… If you walk in front of a camera, it will use every trick in the book to try and figure out who you are specifically.

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Safety+Creep or Liberty?

[–] Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wild stuff. That is far worse than I thought was going on.

What a scary timeline and I hope the country and sort out this stuff and reform this type activity.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They're not just cameras. They also log nearby mobile devices. They've gone from a few hundred nationwide to over 100,000 in like 2 years.

[–] GalacticRobot@lemmy.world 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Uber is going to start implementing the same thing, so mobile Flock that you wouldn't be able to take down.

[–] njordomir@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Someone could deploy devices that clone signals they hear and replay them at random to poison all the data. But they definitely should not do that.

[–] FLAGSHIP@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Government contracted cameras in public spaces.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Not just cameras. They also have RFID, WiFi, Bluetooth, and probably other crap I don't remember. The idea is that even if the face rec doesn't identify you, they still can by probing for credit cards and mobile devices. Disgusting.

[–] FLAGSHIP@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago

Fair point. I was trying to be succinct, not intentionally vague.

[–] Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wow. Thanks for informing me. Stay safe guys

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

You're welcome. I hope it's a nice day where you are.

[–] Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca 4 points 4 days ago

Canada. Its generally okay here but we do stupid shit like this too, just way less thank flock. I'm sure it'll emerge in some form.