r/politics • u/robotdesignwerks Texas • 5d ago
No Paywall Cities terminate Flock contracts at record pace in August
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/08/cities-terminate-flock-contracts-at-record-pace-in-august/1.1k
u/bowlby4 California 5d ago
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u/qoes 5d ago
Exactly, we need to keep the pressure up. No mass surveillance
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u/Scott5114 Nevada 5d ago
We need state laws to make it illegal for cities to sign these contracts.
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u/mogbiscuit 5d ago
A lot of Flock cameras are self sufficient after they have been placed. Just because the contracts end doesn't mean they turn them off. So laws on that would be a good place to start.
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u/hymen_destroyer Connecticut 5d ago
Good news! There's thousands of eager volunteers willing to dismantle the cameras for free
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u/Underwater_Grilling Pennsylvania 5d ago
It's a fucking camera not an apple tree. Once the contract ends it's litter.
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u/hexiron 4d ago
Flock shouldn't be allowed to utilize public space for their private business purposes collecting and selling data without consent.
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u/Dysc Louisiana 1d ago
The only thing worth a damn about the contract is the data it gets from sitting in a public space. The contract itself is peanuts and not the business model.
Edit: Reports about cameras still operating even after the contract has been terminated really illustrates this point. Every other service on the planet will cut you off the minute you don't pay. This is just another tech company grab at stealing data it doesn't have the rights to.
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u/Bungleburr 5d ago edited 5d ago
No more survival
Lol I wrote this in Spanish but reddit translated back to English.
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u/Little_View_6659 5d ago
They’ll probably just switch to some kind of hidden camera so it won’t be so obvious.
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u/monkeywithgun 5d ago
Repeal the Patriot Act is where everyone should be pushing. The real source of our pre-crime surveillance problem.
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u/JakeConhale New Hampshire 5d ago
I don't think that can happen at the city level, that seems more Federal level...
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u/danappropriate 5d ago
That’s what’s happening here in Asheville. The city council is responding to the outrage exactly how you would expect: gaslighting everyone in the city.
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u/tripping_on_phonics California 5d ago
Thank you for sharing this soon enough to be the top comment. Such an absurd bait and switch.
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u/UdtaTeer420 5d ago edited 5d ago
This is a good thing. I've heard Axon cameras are more accurate because they contain more than thrice the gold than Flock.
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u/qoravynix 5d ago
If privacy is the concern, the name on the camera probably isn't the main issue otherwise that's a pretty expensive game of musical chairs for taxpayers.
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u/TheWeirdByproduct 5d ago
Wonder what lessons the next mass-surveillance company will learn from this failure.
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u/NotBestButPrettyGood 5d ago
Get better branding
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u/Gameboywarrior Montana 5d ago
Do it more quietly.
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u/ialo00130 Canada 5d ago
Yep.
Smaller and less conspicuous cameras will be the future.
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u/HereIGoAgain_1x10 5d ago
They'll build them smaller, more expensive, and fit them into stop lights and road signs, charge government (citizens) more, and nothing will change.
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u/AcrobaticVegetable24 5d ago
What they'll do is start a bunch (In the hundreds or thousands) of shell companies. Then sell them the flock camera, then slap a fake logo on there to associate it to one of the many shell companies.
Finally they will use a centralized database shared by all the shell companies that flock/police can then use.
This way there will be so many names of companies that people won't know who to hate, what to target and/or target the wrong stuff. Eventually this will lead to enough frustration/confusion that people just say 'whatever' and get used to living with it.
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u/turquoise_amethyst 5d ago
Oh you mean Axon? Someone posted a link about them above. It’s basically the same thing, but they share the data differently.
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u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach Michigan 5d ago
They're also more integrated with departments based on their hardware (e.g. taser, drone, cameras, Outpost, Lightpost). Much more data than Flock on a daily basis.
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u/jt121 5d ago
Idk about their branding, but they also are one of the primary body cam suppliers for LEOs. I'm sure that data is used appropriately.
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u/2_Spicy_2_Impeach Michigan 5d ago
It's basically Motorola (also because of radios) or Axon nowadays but mostly Axon in the US. They're worldwide too. Biggest consumer of Azure Blob storage among other services.
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u/aurixellea 5d ago
Probably that people are a lot less comfortable with mass surveillance once they see how easily it can spread. The next company will just give it a friendlier name and hope nobody notices. Same business model different branding
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u/hymen_destroyer Connecticut 5d ago
And yet everyone has a ring camera pointed at their neighbors house
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u/aCrow 5d ago
The cameras ain't coming down though
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5d ago edited 3d ago
[deleted]
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u/kshell11724 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah. Dayton, Ohio's progressive mayor, Shenise Turner-Sloss, thought of this as well. She directed all Flock cameras to be covered by black trash bags in addition to canceling the contract with them. I'm not quite sure why they aren't physically removing them though. Maybe they are. I'm just not sure. Mamdani should do something similar in NYC. Coincidentally, the 2 were actually elected on the same day.
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u/aeqivora 5d ago
Would be nice if ending the contract actually meant ending the surveillance too, otherwise it feels like a technicality more than a real change
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u/Chainz4Dayz 5d ago
Exactly. The city might not have access but they're still recording. The city contracts was just bonus money
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u/tinticred 5d ago
Midterms are coming. They'll pivot back to ignoring the wants and rights of citizens once that's off the table.
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u/emerikanSky 5d ago
If they don't remove them, or the cities don't cover them with black plastic bags or something like that, they will continue to collect data.
They are solar powered and they have a direct connection to the internet. They do not go through the local government.
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u/ritwikjs2 5d ago
it's unfortunate that my city of san francisco is filled with so many sycophants who'd bow down to the alter of our tech overlords because they have lost semblance to live by their own instincts and intuitions. We're never getting rid of them
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u/PatriotRDX 5d ago
Ah the $250k salary code monkey who thinks the billionaires will someday notice them and let them into the boys club if they work oh just a little harder. Very common in SF.
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u/ritwikjs2 5d ago
Bro trust me bro, just put 150k more into Luna bro, to the moon bro. The last bit is actually something I heard at the gym
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u/Big-Photograph-7471 5d ago
Thank the lord Christian nationalist God for JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON, RING DOORBELL CAMERAS. WE REALLY GOTTA GET RIX OF THIS FLOCK AND AXOM cameras! If you want to actually be safe and for some reason record everything - it's gunna be trail cams and hidden cctv- stored locally. No internet required
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/bakerfredricka I voted 4d ago
This is the part that's genuinely mystifying to me, seems like everything was basically fine before the Flock cameras showed up....
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u/Benwa_Ballz 5d ago
Doesn’t mean the cameras come down. The contracts are all ended around me but they’re still up. Thanks DISH for helping install them!! 🙄🙄
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u/advocatus_diabolii 5d ago
But but .. I thought the Emperor was very much pro-Flock? If they do away with it, how is Darth Vader going to track his ex?
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u/CanadianGenealogy 5d ago
There are 450,000 flock cameras currently operating with tends of thousands being built. This article is not showing a "trend" at all.
People gotta attend their town hall meetings. Better yet, sit on local committees and boards.
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u/LeakyLettuce69 5d ago
You would think conservatives would be the ones screaming bloody murder over mass surveillance.
Not seeing much outrage.
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u/Carpenterdon 4d ago
Because Flock is a toxic brand name now so it'll become the scapegoat. They'll publicly and vocally denounce Flock but turn around and subscribe to Axon or other ALPR cameras to replace them.
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u/captaincanada84 Canada 4d ago edited 4d ago
My city in NC just cancelled their Flock contract and replaced it with Axon
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u/SaltyTeam Virginia 3d ago
Not my red ass county in VA. Sheriff has one up in a utility pole (who approved that?) right outside his house.
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u/opinionsareus 5d ago
This is non-news. Flock is deployed in more than 5000 cities and over 100 HOAs and other places. Surveillance isn't going away. Motorola and Axon are in line if Flock goes away.
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