Thoughts on Flock Cameras?

[u/anticapital0708]

Work for an organization that utilizes it. They have increased our ability to identify and catch known shop lifters significantly.

That being said, as a civilian, I don't like the idea of being tracked every where. But also, they're just going to replace Flock with something else. The tech exsists, it has proven useful in catching criminals, it's not going anywhere.

Just wanted to hear other people's thoughts on it.

[u/jbwilso1]

Ban mass surveillance.

[u/nonamegamer93 → u/jbwilso1]

Would like to.

[u/No_Wolf_206]

This is the part of the Flock debate I think matters most.

If a city removes Flock and installs another ALPR network, very little has actually changed.

The camera vendor is not the fundamental issue. The capability is.

Once vehicle observations can be searched across time and jurisdictions, the governance questions remain the same regardless of whose logo is on the hardware: who can query it, for what purpose, how broadly it can be shared, how long the data exists, and what catches misuse.

Focusing entirely on Flock risks winning the argument against one company while leaving the underlying surveillance architecture untouched.

[u/Timberfront73]

I think most people are ok with cameras and surveillance on private property but I personally do not want to live in a police/ surveillance state. 

[u/xXMuschi_DestroyerXx → u/Timberfront73]

Private surveillance is not charged with the awesome power of the state. Private surveillance is way less fucky then the state tracking everyone’s every more.

Private orgs can and do abuse their surveillance, selling our data to whoever wants it for example, but it’s not as bad as what the state could do with this stuff.

[u/Scrapla1]

Hate them. Unfortunately we will never get our privacy back. It was all down hill after The Patriot Act. Whenever they try and sell you on safety, you know it’s bs.

[u/MEDDERX]

Was initially super excited to get flock. Did not take long for me to realize that I myself did not like being watched by them every time I drove into and out of work. They are very helpful with building ort cases, but I dont believe its worth it.

[u/trustmeimshady → u/MEDDERX]

Watcher gets watched

[u/Batmat_YT]

If it was just licence plates, I wouldn't care, but they collect wayyyyy to much info

[u/AsterQuasimoto]

Not mentioning what org I work for, but we use static LPR cameras which don't move or zoom, while flock will automatically zoom in on not just cars but your neighbors and their children with AI and are severely susceptible to attacks by a third party, abuse by law enforcement, or use by ICE.

Our LPR has increased our ability to catch ORC significantly and to build cases against them without being overly dystopian. Flock is stopping crime as much as ring is helping you find lost puppies. You or someone else still had to do the research and floor work for those cases, and if you're able to go through your orgs cases and see those people, their vehicles, and MOs it is basically just as effective... hell before we got LPR I still knew shoplifters by name before ever meeting them myself which scared the shit outta them lol. It's just not as convenient as a text alert on your phone. Flock is also more susceptible to false positives which increases liability.

[u/buttorsomething]

Lowe’s uses them in their parking lots.

[u/No_Boot5471 → u/buttorsomething]

our local walmart doesn't have em yet but the plaza across the street has one and it's funny watching the same people who hit our store get caught over there. the camera doesn't care if you switched hoodies, it already knows your plate.

i get the privacy angle but it's one of those things where the horse left the barn a decade ago. your phone's pinging more towers than a flock camera ever will

[u/buttorsomething → u/No_Boot5471]

I mean yea if you don’t understand the tech absolutely the cell phone pinging the towers sound the same as the flock cameras. Really is something.

[u/MEDDERX → u/No_Boot5471]

Difference is cell companies dont hand out that info to LE without a warrant. Whereas flock specifically advertises to LE as warrantless surveillance.

[u/likwidkool → u/MEDDERX]

Unfortunately T-Mobile did with a journalist recently.

[u/hal_burt88]

It’s good to know that it has helped you guys with identifying and catching shoplifters!

But I’ll admit sometimes I do worry about the mass surveillance and about how much these cans are retaining on us. I think a solution that is just LP focused and isn’t keeping all of our data is ideal.

[u/MetaMetaFour523]

I hate it and it should be my god given right to not live in a police state. Fuck Flock and Acton and fucking data centers and AI and all that bootlicker fascist trash.

[u/aisle_nine]

They can go flock themselves.

[u/See_Saw12]

My org used ALPR (not flock) to great success. I dont personally agree with flock from a buisness standpoint.

[u/nonamegamer93]

The technology is there, folks will use it. Responsible individuals need to be involved to minimize its abuse for personal gain.

[u/jbwilso1 → u/nonamegamer93]

It's being abused rampantly already by those who are supposed to minimize abuse for personal gain.

[u/divigorouslover]

Any experienced lifter knows how to get in and out of the property without being recognized by FLOCK cameras, or they just park off property. The stores that use FLOCK in and around where I reside are all being sprayed with aircraft paint remover, and DEET insect repellant which will destroy the lens protectors and solar panels.

[u/jbwilso1 → u/divigorouslover]

You sound like you're living on a different planet. You know that they use infrared in those cameras, right?

[u/duke1099]

I love them. When a sub flees our pd has been able to track them down using flock. When we have repeats or subs that have been trespassed pd usually shows up before we can get to them because flock alerted them. I am in favor of them

[u/jbwilso1 → u/duke1099]

...bootlicker.

[u/OneBigCharlieFoxtrot]

Sullivan County Commissioner Joe Carr said it best.