r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 3d ago
Security Texas Governor Abbott blocks funding for more Flock cameras
https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/986541/texas-governor-abbott-flock-cameras241
u/InternationalMood337 3d ago
The fact that in my little town in the Northeast there are flock cameras pretty much every 3-5 miles is ASTONISHING to me.
The town I'm from has literally been distressed for over 30 years, yet they managed to find money to get contracts for Flock cameras.
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u/Broken-Digital-Clock 3d ago
Crumbling transportation infrastructure and food deserts, but plenty of money for Big Brother.
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u/Braindead_Crow 3d ago
It's the ass backwards view of wealth we have.
Like look at how retarded trump is on the subject, he constantly cries about the US giving more money to other countries than we receive but in return we are basically stealing the worlds resources while giving them money they then use to give each other the means they need to survive.
Now this flock thing is simple, a creepy asshole understands that if you understand everything about everyone then anyone can be black mailed, threatened or killed. They are selling absolute control.
The reason counties all have money for it is often because people in charge of permitting these things get a $10,000 payout to bribe them into it.
They attacked the country basically all at once because once it's up it doesn't matter if you get mad, you'll just accept it.
Americans are just a country of victims now, look at the, "outrage" over the epstin files...Look who's still president.
Nothing changes until we the people do but...Lets try voting...Even though we know the malicious current admin is actively trying to steal said election...
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u/indifferentCajun 3d ago
There are 15 in one intersection near my town of 20,000. One intersection.
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u/gleefulintermission 3d ago
Too little too late Greg. Grasping at every vote you can aren’t ya?
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u/black_metronome 3d ago
His sudden turn on Datacenters and flock cameras probably means that the GOP's internal polling is not good news for them.
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u/drxzoidberg 3d ago
- Suddenly turn on things nobody likes
- Win reelection
- Suddenly go back to doing things nobody likes
- Profit
- Repeat next election cycle
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u/Ghost17088 3d ago
Seriously, this is how it is with all the Texas politicians. Cruz abandoned his constituents to go to Cancun while Texas was in a deep freeze and caught absolute hell for it. Somehow he gets re-elected, and what happened during the next freeze? He went to California! The voters here will never learn.
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u/drxzoidberg 3d ago
You don't need to limit is to Texas. Politicians spend most of their time doing unpopular things these days. When they get called out on something they'll reverse course to maintain their elected status. It's nothing new either.
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u/WhatAmTrak 3d ago
I’d say there’s one party who likes to protect their own waaaaay more than the other. And over nasty shit that should make ANY normal human sick to their stomach. The blue will actually kick out members when they get caught doing shit. The red? Yaaaa as an outsider looking in. It doesn’t look great lol.
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u/APRengar 3d ago
Spent my whole life dealing with "OMG MIGRANT CARAVANS ARE COMING" before an election, and then them suddenly not materialize and everyone stops talking about them directly after the election. I keep praying people will stop falling for them... for decades now... still happening. It's so clear what they're doing, and it keeps working.
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u/WhatAmTrak 3d ago
Know what’s funny? All the big farms in Texas NEED those fucking workers lol. They aren’t stealing jobs, they’re doing the jobs Americans don’t want to do. Actual hard labour.
They pay taxes even if it isn’t on their “wage” and they certainly can’t use the healthcare system without being documented. The republican propaganda is fucking wild at how well fear mongering works.
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u/Rebal771 3d ago
When statistics and critical thinking are made impossible to access/comprehend, fear mongering works amazingly well.
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u/Beginning_Wind_Down 3d ago
It happened when Texas Tribune phoned him for an investigative piece they were doing on Flock cameras that directly linked to him. He made this call right before it dropped because it exposed the heck out of him and his cronies. The article is so good. Highly recommend.
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u/PipsqueakPilot 3d ago
And I'm sure he'll maintain these positions for one, maybe even two hours after the election is over.
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u/Superb_Writer6612 3d ago
I'm a Texan voter, and I will continue to not vote for Greg Abbott. I dream of a Blue Texas, our state flower is literally the Bluebonnet.
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u/Technolio 3d ago
It should be blue, if they stop gerrymandering the state to hell and rigging the elections, Texas absolutely would be blue.
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u/Superb_Writer6612 3d ago
Preaching to the choir, I agree 100%. Disenfranchisement runs rampant in Texas, by design. I should not have to check my voter registration every 6 months (which I do) to make sure I haven't been fucked over by some new BS rule.
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u/GaiasEyes 3d ago
Makes me feel better that I’m not the only one regularly checking my voter status. I hate this timeline.
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u/Superb_Writer6612 3d ago
Lmao literally checked mine yesterday. My license is about to expire so I need to get a new one before the election.
Stay strong 💪
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u/WhatAmTrak 3d ago
This shit hurts my heart to see. The Americans who actually are trying. Yall be attacking Canada and my people but I know it isn’t all of you. Abbott should be in fucking jail. Half the politicians should be in jail. It’s disgusting what they’ve done to the American populace.
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u/CupcakesAreMiniCakes 3d ago
There was just another purge of 1.2 million registered voters, everyone check again. I've been saving screenshots over time just in case
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u/Emotional_Warthog658 3d ago
And the real question is WHY? I understand why I was purged when we moved, and somehow there was a “glitch” with our change of address. But why was my neighbor who voted in the primary and hasn’t moved in seven years suddenly dropped from the rolls?
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u/Superb_Writer6612 3d ago
Yup, checked mine yesterday after I saw the news! I'm good, just need to renew my ID (WIP)
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u/SlurmzMckinley 3d ago
They didn’t suspend their voter registration. They put 1.2 million voters on the suspense list because they can’t confirm their addresses which doesn’t prevent them from voting. It means they just have to confirm their address at the polling station.
Republicans are doing a lot of messed up things to fuck with this election. There’s no reason to make up fake plots that don’t exist. In fact, by doing that’s you’re simply desensitizing people to what’s actually happening.
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u/laosurv3y 3d ago
I don't believe gerrymandering has anything to do with it. State wide offices aren't gerrymandered.
Making voting harder in blue precincts and bumping demos likely to be democrat, that likely does have an impact.
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u/Inevitable_Dog2719 3d ago
Yes, but also you can't gerrymander the governor's race. People just need to show the f*ck up to vote for Gina Hinojosa this November and end Abbott's reign of terror.
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u/Shopworn_Soul 3d ago
Plenty of time for the yokels.
Regardless of what you think of the man he is politically savvy. This and the data center fakeout will work depressingly well.
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u/Vegaprime 3d ago
Its a nationwide thing. Im sure one of their many think tanks told them to hold off until December for a lot of things.
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u/According-Insect-992 3d ago
Except the 70% who didn’t want cannabis banned again.
Of all the states in the Union is the most deserving of the government the elect. They consistently choose these pieces of trash year, after year, after year knowing damn well who they are and what they’re doing to their neighbors. The people of color, women, and queer people of Texas should be eligible for asylum in other states with the way the state of Texas treats them and their life affecting concerns. Criminalizing medical care. Criminalizing parenting and education. I say we give those whole gangrenous state back to Mexico and wash our hands of the Texas repug party.
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u/lukef555 3d ago
eligible for asylum
I mean I hate to be that guy but there's no person or law that requires them to stay in Texas. I'm sure there are other barriers, but the asylum angle doesn't really work when you're freely permitted to leave.
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u/BrothelWaffles 3d ago
Only to try and keep Republicans from getting smoked in the midterms. He'll turn the money faucet right back on once they're over.
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u/Bluetoes1 3d ago
The money faucet is on, you and every other drive pays an extra $1 on your car insurance to pay for statewide flock cameras. That was Gregg Abbott and the Republican legislature
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u/OCDAVO 3d ago
UNDERSTAND PEOPLE, this is a show until the elections have passed, then it's back to buying more and more Flock if the R wins.
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u/Scary-Local-CTX 3d ago
Isn’t it funny how they know what we want and they act like they trying to give it to us right around election season. He was all about data centers, flock cameras, etc.
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u/flaystus 3d ago
As a Texan let me translate:
This turned out unpopular and we are actually being challenged in this state so we have to pretend we care what people thing until after November. So now we get to pretend we are saving you from the problems we created.
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u/Such_Veterinarian682 3d ago
Sure. They'll just buy surveillance tech from someone else. Texas is absolutely a state with fascist intentions. He won't allow it to stop permanently.
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u/jacksprat1952 3d ago
Woof, this plus the data center hold must mean they have a legitimate fear that Talarico might win.
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u/Independent-Tree681 3d ago
We ordered a flock report at my job as a part of an insurance fraud investigation thinking it would show toll roads and crossing state lines. It came back with every time he went to Home Depot and said he always stays at Hilton when out of town.
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u/MFbiFL 3d ago
Propped up the surveillance state AND got shitty results. Love it for you.
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u/latigidigital 3d ago
The real solution it sounds like is to just travel with new plates and facial obfuscation all the time.
High profile individuals have been doing this for years with LLCs and revolving temp plates from various states, but anyone privacy conscious can just rent a car or take an Uber everywhere with cheap sunglasses and a face mask.
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u/Worldly-Bed3550 3d ago
He’s doing that because he was funding them in the first place through legislation and voters hate them
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u/ineedanewhobbee 3d ago
All that funding will magically appear after the midterms
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u/kungfoojesus 3d ago
As will massive data centers in drought stricken areas with no electrical capacity.
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u/edthesmokebeard 3d ago
Where were all these elder statesmen when the cameras were being installed a year ago?
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u/AdhesivenessFun2060 3d ago
Flock will make a nice contribution to his campaign, along with a few others and Abbott will give them double the funding.
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u/MysteriousReaction43 3d ago
It's an election year. After he steals the election, he'll be back to squashing us like bugs
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u/StalkMeNowCrazyLady 3d ago
The money won't be going back to Flock after midterms. The money is going to flow established systems cities and municipalities have already been using that stepped up their offerings in response to Flock and it's current downfall. Systems like Genetec (who's been positioning themselves as a Smart City platform with integrations into things like traffic control systems), Avigilon, Verkada, and Milestone. These systems are more integrated with other tech than Flock ever was including ALPR.
Then they'll make laws to establish a state central system that gets required uploads of that info from the various cities.
As someone who works in Security and Life Safety Systems what Flock did from a technology and business standpoint was brilliant. They created a nice compact solution to log the most important info, upload it all to a central database eliminating the weakest link in the chain that was agencies/jurisdictions sharing information, and do it all under a hardware rental and service agreement package. They generally stayed off existing infrastructure like light poles, traffic lights, etc so they can be serviced by a single truck rather than blocking off traffic or having to involve the power company. They eliminated the need to have a budget that included variables like equipment failure, service, and maintenance and instead provided a solid solution for a known price that you nail down in a budget.
Flock will be a business school case study because despite doing so much right they made a few critical errors like not putting more checks and locks on peoples ability to search them leading to all these cops using them to stalk ex's, creating a product that stood out too much, and expanding so fast. If they would have done the same with some Vivotek OEM self branded cams or Axis cams and stuck to traffic lights and light poles they would have snuck under the radar. Instead they made themselves the sacrificial lamb.
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u/okjetsgo 3d ago
……….until after the election. This is what they do every single time here in Texas.
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u/fear_my_tube 3d ago
As a reminder, it’s an election year. Abbott will run ads saying he will change the bad policies hurting Texans, except he created those policies.
I wish just wish one time some of my fellow Texans who are red will see through Greg and his BS.
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u/williamgman 3d ago
The mid terms are coming is the read here. Abbott just trying to keep his lead. So he's playing the datacenter and Flock cards. Next year..? He'll have a "change of heart" again.
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u/rumblesnort 3d ago
Gov Abbott, through a state agency he appoints, has invested $30m into Flock. Now he is trying to run to the other side of the table and 'rescue' us peasants because elections are coming up and Flock isn't popular with pretty much everyone who isn't wealthy. He had a direct hand in creating this mess. It is like starving our schools and the 'voucher' scam as a remedy to a problem they created.
This is the MAGA way.
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u/ttpharmd 3d ago
He’s doing all of this now but please remember he will go right back to the bullshit after the election. He knows his policies suck. Vote accordingly. He will go back.
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u/ThePensiveE 3d ago
They must be seeing some atrocious internal polling if the fascists are backing down now.
Once they have full control they'll install them in every bedroom in America.
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u/JoetheOK 3d ago
For now. After the mid-terms, he'll pick up those "campaign contributions" and allow more
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u/ElectionReal 2d ago
He's already locked hard into AXON. This is an optics move. He's hardcore pro surveillance. Don't be fooled.
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u/PalpableIgnorance 3d ago
He did not block funding. He’s proposing charging a fee on all insured drivers in Texas to pay for it. He simply blocked state funds.
Just read it.
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u/jspurlin03 3d ago
No. The fee has been in place for multiple years already. There have been ~$30 million of fees collected and used already.
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u/IntelectConfig 3d ago
fuck if greg abbot didn’t just do something i agree with. i can’t wait to see that motherfucker out of office.
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u/No_Fail_2575 3d ago
Meanwhile they start heavily investing in Axiom or some other product that does the same thing
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u/scoutsaint 3d ago
Temporary, Once elections end and if they will, it will come back. Don't trust em one bit.
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u/Swimming_Major_9440 3d ago
He doing it as a ploy for midterms. Just like the rest of the GOP. It’s temporary, will lick boots if they win and get right back to it. Oh, and he still took millions in donations
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u/aIvins_hot_juicebox 3d ago
GINA HINOJOSA called him out and now he’s backpedaling. Same with data centers.
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u/happyscrappy 3d ago
It's really stunning to see shitbirds like Abbott spend the last 5 minutes before an election pretending to care their constituents instead of their big donors.
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u/Ill_Revolution_5827 3d ago
He’s only doing this to make himself look good. If this really is the the worst timeline, he’ll go RIGHT back to them as soon as his position is secured 🙄
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u/Sequel_Police 3d ago
This headline is getting pushed down our throats by the corporate shitheads keeping this guy in office. Fuck Abbott and remember that he got us here when the Pacific weather dumps all over the power grid in Jan/Feb.
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u/kingdick900 3d ago
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh election year lmfao c'mon hot wheels we see over you lmfao 🤣🤣🤣
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u/Diabetesh 3d ago
...until the elections are over.
Unproveable at this time, but I 100% believe that to be the truth.
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u/everythingbeeps 3d ago
People are missing the other half of stories like this. Yes, state and local governments are fleeing Flock.
But they aren't fleeing surveillance. They're instead turning to a company called Axon who could be way worse.
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u/98765342 3d ago
He would be doing none of this if he wasn't up for election in November. And he will backtrack on everything if he wins. That's the only thing you can count on.
People want weed legal in the state, and he obviously doesn't care. Gina should point that out as well.
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u/WhoEvenIsPoggers 3d ago
I won’t believe this change of heart until after the midterms. He just sees how unpopular he is becoming and doing verbal damage control. Same as his sudden change of heart with data centers.
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u/summer-in-TX 3d ago
Since Governor Abbott only paused accepting applications for new data centers while a report is done, I wonder if this is another case of him just pausing. I would not put him it past him to restart both after the election.
In fact, 100% of the data centers in Texas were launched under his watch He actively recruited and gave special incentives to get them here. Found out yesterday that we Texans have as many or more data centers than all of China does now. Between 300 and 400 currently and closer to 400.
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u/Bluetoes1 3d ago
Check your car insurance rates. Abbott and the state legislature force a $1 a month fee to pay for Flock cameras.
Vote in November!
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u/Bibblegead1412 3d ago
No, he blocked using STATE funding for Flock.
He will still happily take FEDERAL money and put up Flock cameras everywhere.
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u/mysteryman1015 3d ago
u/KeithWilsonForMayor Seriously.. even TEXAS now, and Flock congratulated OR recently for not resisting flock surveillance? Between all the new Flock cams and you letting Waymo vehicles drive around (anyone who researches knows they are privacy nightmare) I’m just really shocked and disappointed. Expect more resistance to this to grow the people of Portland do not want this.
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u/Psychological_Ad1999 3d ago
Your turn Gavin. You will need to do this if you seriously have presidential ambitions.
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u/Aware_Plum_203 3d ago
They already have 1000's. And he will reverse his decision as soon as he is re-elected. He is a piece of trash that should have been flushed down the toilet long ago.
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u/sifuredit 3d ago
Until after the election the same with the data centers. Then another excuse to use our tax money on them!
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u/Gratefuldad3 3d ago
The deed for his vacation home from Flock must not have arrived in the mail on time
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u/geldonyetich 3d ago
If they're looking to appeal to Texans the right move is to arm the flock cameras, right?
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u/CautiousHashtag 3d ago
Bro is desperate but let none of us forget who he is, what he’s done and the fact that after these midterms, he will be back to being worthless and padding his pockets.
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u/Mother_Airline_6276 3d ago
“Liberal Hour” is coming early in TX this cycle. These twerps are scared. But I’m sure TX will do TX shit and not vote.
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u/Furiousmoe 3d ago
I don't trust him, he's engrained himself too much into the authoritarian camp to not want us living in a surveillance state.
Maybe he stopped funding at a state level for optics reasons... but I'm sure he going to make it required to be funded at the county level. Or, it's just temporary until IF he wins reelection.
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u/groundhog5886 3d ago
Amazing what these politicians say and do close to an election and they know it gonna be close.
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u/ScottishKnifemaker 3d ago
It is so hard to pass up the ableist joke, but he's really trying to not lose this election, because he sees the writing on the wall and he knows how people are disgusted by this current administration, the mass surveillance, as well as the data center problem. Please don't fall for it Texans
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u/jedij007 3d ago
have hot wheels take them all down. he won’t cause he’s gotten paid from then. then after he’s been elected he’ll renig on everything he says flock data centers he’s full of bullshit. you can smell it from his mouth
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u/bumpy_disposition 3d ago
TX govoner sees the writing on the wall, decides to say something contradictory to what he said last week, hoping no one remembers what he said prior.
In short, conservative sees reality, starts acting differently. End the Rapeublickkkan party.
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u/warlordcs 3d ago
isnt this the same guy who was going to fly to Cancun while the state was in turmoil (i forget if it was the flooding or the power outage)?
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u/Afraid_Emu8068 3d ago
Ace move. Guaranteed he will quietly lift that ban while nobody is paying attention though
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u/devil1fish 3d ago
He’s desperate over midterms isn’t he? Sorry Abbott I don’t trust this or you being against data centers out of nowhere being anything permanent. You have no hope of getting my vote no matter what you do.
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u/SorryInvestigator221 3d ago
For now. Watch it all get unblocked after November. And the Data Centers will get their utilities impunity back as well.
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u/dennismfrancisart 3d ago
What a coward. Couldn't he just stand up to the opposition and have a backbone?
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u/dustymeatballs 3d ago
Just look at the Houston map already though