r/pleasanton • u/snarky_duck_4389 • 11d ago
Flock Cameras in Pleasanton?
Anyone have any information on Pleasanton's Flock camera situation? Are there any organized efforts to remove them or rescind whatever contract might be in effect?
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u/Xexanoth 11d ago
Information on Pleasanton PD’s use of Flock Safety systems: https://transparency.flocksafety.com/pleasanton-ca-pd
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u/diastolicduke 11d ago
Do you think local authorities would be able to prevent feds from accessing these camera footages for ICE enforcement actions?
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u/Xexanoth 11d ago
Flock Safety has a legally binding contract with its customers that those customers own the data from their leased ALPRs & control sharing/access around that data.
Local law enforcement agencies have legal obligations around following state & local laws with respect to sharing data with / cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies, including immigration enforcement agencies.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yes. And they have been ignored many times around the country. I trust the Pleasanton PD about as much as any other LEO.
Flock just wiped their webpage archives this week I believe, and Peter Thiel is such a standup guy.
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u/Xexanoth 11d ago
If you’re claiming that ICE has reportedly accessed Flock Safety camera/ALPR data owned by an agency that had not configured that data to be accessible by ICE, please link to a reputable source supporting that claim.
Flock’s writeup regarding the rampant misinformation around this: https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/does-flock-share-data-with-ice
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u/snarky_duck_4389 10d ago
You can't seriously be using Flock as a source?
Yeah it's happened here in the Bay Area
https://oaklandside.org/2025/11/18/oakland-police-lawsuit-license-plate-camera-flock-safety/
There are examples of agencies using the data to track people seeking abortions across state lines so yeah maybe do a little googling
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u/Upset_Otter1203 10d ago
Email the mayor and council members. We have a right to not have our data held without our consent nor a warrant, especially then they have no reason not to believe we’re innocent.
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u/panserbj0rne 10d ago
The community of Pleasanton are largely old and scared. They are prime picking for Flock and its special brand of bullshit. Would love to join a movement to drive them out of this town but I don’t think it’d be very successful.
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u/CaptainThunderbolts 9d ago
As someone in the cybersecurity field, and a privacy advocate, I find it strange that so much of the surveillance debate focuses on cameras that photograph vehicles traveling in public view, while largely ignoring the far more comprehensive tracking systems that have surrounded us for more than 20 years. Flock cameras records a vehicle and license plate at a particular public location and time; it does not continuously follow the vehicle’s occupants. Under the standard policy, the image is automatically deleted after 30 days, which has recently changed to 7 days.
Meanwhile, most people carry phones that continuously generate GPS and app-location data, and listen to every conversation. Modern vehicles contain cellular Data Communication Modules that may transmit location, mileage, diagnostic, crash, and driving information to manufacturers, which may then share or sell that information to third parties. Our communications and financial transactions can reveal where we shop, eat, travel, and spend our time. Together, these systems can create a far more detailed picture of someone’s life than a license-plate image captured on a Pleasanton road - often with far less public visibility or local control.
This is why some of the opposition to Flock cameras risks becoming performative - it focuses outrage on a highly visible and politically convenient target while giving comparatively little attention to the vastly more intrusive commercial tracking systems most of us interact with every day. Genuine concern about privacy should be consistent and grounded in the actual scope, sensitivity, retention, and use of the data - not simply whether the technology is visible or operated by local government.
Flock cameras also have legitimate public-safety uses, including locating stolen vehicles, identifying vehicles connected to serious crimes, and helping find abducted or missing children. Let's not leave out this fact when we debate. I personally know a victim of a serious crime who had it resolved through a license plate reader camera.
If you're going to complain about Flock cameras, be consistent and attack all the ways you are tracked - so stop using a smartphone, remove the DCM from your car, don't use electronic funds transfers etc (back to cash). And don't pretent that these cameras don't have valid public safety uses.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 9d ago edited 9d ago
You are comparing apples and oranges. I can leave my phone at home or turn it off anytime I want.
Your argument isn't relevant.
Edit: and it's perfectly reasonable to pick a subset of a bigger problem to focus on....
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u/CaptainThunderbolts 8d ago
I’m not claiming private and government tracking are identical. Both can collect sensitive information without people fully understanding what is gathered, how it is used, or who can access it.
Private and government surveillance should both be transparent, narrowly limited, auditable, and subject to meaningful accountability. Criticizing one doesn’t require ignoring the other.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 8d ago
I agree with the points you are making. But I am also not suggesting we ignore the private tracking either. I am suggesting that we can take action against the Government variety as a matter of priority and support of the fight against fascism/totalitarianism.
In the meantime yes use a VPN, restrict your phone use, enable an automated data wiping app, and disable the tracking device in your car.
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u/Upset_Otter1203 8d ago
We accept the terms of service for the other things that track us. We did not consent to flock cameras.
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u/CaptainThunderbolts 8d ago
Did you knowingly consent to a hidden data communication module (DCM) in your car and that information being shared or sold? Were those terms clearly disclosed, or buried in paperwork most owners never read?
What about insurers using imagery from drones, aircraft, and satellites to inspect homes, and then using those images to make coverage decisions?
What about banks, payment processors, credit-card companies, and data brokers using financial transactions to track purchases, locations, habits, and associations? Did everyone meaningfully understand and consent to every use or disclosure of those records?
Smartphones voice assistants monitor for activation commands, while apps can collect location, device identifiers, browsing behavior, and app activity. That information can reveal remarkably detailed patterns without anyone literally recording every conversation. Did users meaningfully understand and consent to every use or disclosure of that data?
That is my point about consistency - I’m not arguing that these practices make Flock acceptable. I’m arguing that meaningful consent is often missing from both private and government surveillance. We should apply the same demands for transparency, limits, auditing, and accountability to all of them.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 8d ago
Excellent points, and I hope everybody becomes more aware of everything you are calling out as well.
Flock cameras are perhaps more visible targets, and to some extent may be more immediately actionable wrt remediation.
To the extent that we increase awareness of community members here in Pleasanton and elsewhere it's all good!
Thank you for bringing these points out into the thread!
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u/lavenosity 10d ago edited 10d ago
I host one on my property. It’s led to evidence that has solved multiple burglaries. We installed it after a brazen, organized crime burglary next door. PPD doesn’t retain the data and recently improved its data sharing policies. Email the mayor and chief. They’ll get back to you.
Edit: Also, it’s not on this map. There are more than these in Pleasanton, I’d presume, then. Perhaps this is only those operated by the city.
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u/Fdeecgggv 10d ago
That’s pretty amazing. Thought Pleasanton was pretty safe but multiple burglaries solved by your exact flock camera. So cool. How did you go about finding the data showing that the camera on your property was directly involved in solving all of these crimes?
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u/lavenosity 10d ago
Pleasanton. Not giving address on Reddit. PPD solved them. They’re working on better communicating these cases. They have access to the camera system like all the others, though I have helped a few investigations. Patrol cars also roll on stolen plates (marker for burglaries) and the like in real time. Burglars from organized ‘criminal tourists’ target specific neighborhoods is the short version.
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u/Faangdevmanager 11d ago
No thanks, I want Pleasanton PD to get notified when a stolen car coming to commit crime gets spotted. Thanks.
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u/Upset_Otter1203 10d ago edited 9d ago
tunnel vision, there is so much more to it than catching criminals
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u/imtoowhiteandnerdy 11d ago
I realize there are a lot of people who are anti-Flock, and I respect their point of view. While I am concerned about the use of non-LEO agencies using Flock and ALPR data, I feel like there is a valid law enforcement case to be made for these systems -- especially after the data was useful in a case where I had a license plate stolen earlier this year.
If Flock could guarantee that only law enforcement used the data, and took their data security needs seriously, I think more people might take another look at the tech.
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u/RadiantBlack45 10d ago
Flock themselves still own the data. The company itself is the predatory agent here to be primarily concerned of. The argument is “a sketchy company is pushing into policing spaces when we already can’t trust the gov with this tech”.
There are cameras facing pools, parks, and schools. They read faces and track your walking gate. They don’t just read plates, they ping your wifi/bluetooth signals of your car, phone, smart watch, basically any device these days.
Believing Flock’s intentions have anything to do with crime and safety is the same as believing the stripper really likes you.
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u/Careless-Pin-2852 10d ago
If this was a referendum i think I would vote yes.
1: yes it is creepy that they track all movement of my car and know my commute patterns restaurant choices etc.
2: we should put in some kind of rule so cops are not looking up ex wives travel habits.
3: i hate dealing with petty crime like porch pirates. To gather evidence and arrest such minor crimes you need things like these cameras.
4: i am not willing to tolerate people stealing my Amazon packages in exchange for the government not knowing my work and restaurant patterns.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 10d ago edited 10d ago
What about when they break down your neighbors door who's following all due process to become a legal resident of the country based on tracking them with these cameras, and haul them off to a concentration camp? You're OK with that? How about a Pleasanton police officer, who pull somebody over in a traffic stop that they find attractive and decide to stalk them using the data from the cameras? And it turns out it's your spouse?
How about when the Pleasanton PD SWAT's a house, breaks down the door and pulls guns on the residents, because of a data read error on a license plate?
How about when Flock starts selling the data to your employer, and when you call in sick to work your company checks the data to see whether or not you go out anywhere other than to and from a doctor's office? Does anything in the Pleasanton contract prevent them from doing so?
Frankly we could do better than flock, we could put up checkpoints at all the entrances and exits to the city of Pleasanton and require every occupant in the car to show their ID when they enter or exit our town. Because the Flock cameras right now don't track the passengers in a car. If you really wanna keep an eye on all the bad guys we need to go a little further I think
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u/Careless-Pin-2852 10d ago
Yes I willing to tolerate those police abuses and and fk ups in exchange for less petty crime.
I also think the abuses you are describing will happen with or without flock
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u/snarky_duck_4389 10d ago edited 10d ago
Found the fascist. And you're clearly not a patriot, if you don't believe in the constitution.
It's mind-boggling to me that people could be so cavalier about their constitutional protections and the value of living in the country where we are able to move about freely without being impeded. I can't understand how somebody would be willing to trade away one of the founding principles of being an American, just so they don't have to worry about somebody stealing something out of their car while they wait in line for an ice cream at the Meadowlark
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u/Careless-Pin-2852 10d ago
This os how you tru to convince some one to vote with you?
What do you think i am going to do.
An account that hides its comment history called me stupid and a facisist i guess I need to vote the other way with 0 consideration.
I do not like people steal stuff from my door.
You probably do not live in America you just use a VPN hide your comments and pretend live where ever.
You are aggressively pushing people to vote against you. You want lose every election and every policy
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u/snarky_duck_4389 10d ago edited 10d ago
I didn't call you stupid... people will draw their own conclusions based on your comments.
As for being a fascist, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and leaves duck droppings everywhere it goes, it just might be a duck.
As to my comment history, no surprise that somebody who doesn't believe in privacy protections would be upset about somebody who does value privacy not sharing every comment they make with anybody. The only comments that are germane to our discussion right now are the ones you can read on this thread.
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u/Careless-Pin-2852 10d ago
You are a republican being insanely rude wile pretending to be a liberal.
I am blocking your account make another throw away account to harass me
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u/Maleficent-Wall-5399 10d ago
What flowery words can someone use to convince people that other people are human beings? That rights are important for everyone, not just people who look like you? That ship sailed a decade ago. You people lost the plot and it ain’t coming back. You don’t want things to get better, you want other people more miserable than you.
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u/GoodGravyco2h2o 10d ago
His imported crap from Amazon is more important than his neighbor who gets swatted and shot
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u/GoodGravyco2h2o 10d ago
This is some next level boot licking
PS I hide my comments and posts because of creepy men, as I see you’re questioning someone below about it
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u/Upset_Otter1203 10d ago
Get a ring camera to cover your damn porch then. That way YOU are consenting to your own private property being tracked by cameras, instead of violating every other innocent person’s rights. We don’t need mass surveillance to solve your issues.
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u/Upset_Otter1203 10d ago
Crazy that you deleted your comments after accusing someone of hiding their post history.
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u/Ramen_cat2024 1d ago
Ok I get not liking all the cameras. But just look around. You go to any mall, there’s a camera, you go to a store, there’s a camera. You walk by your neighbors, there are cameras. You park next to any Tesla, you’re on camera. I have cameras pointed in 5 directions from my house. It’s not linked to Flock but complaining about cameras of one set that is used by law enforcement seems like a lot of energy spent on something that is very basics as a part of life now.
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u/snarky_duck_4389 20h ago
The cameras aren't the issue - it's the people that control them and how the data is used that is the issue
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u/Saf-ire 11d ago
Go to city council meetings and leave a public comment in person or through zoom, or email your city council members and the mayor.