• Diddlydee@feddit.uk
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    17 hours ago

    What is a flock camera? Is it like ANPR (Automatic number plate recognition) in the UK?

    • faintwhenfree@lemmus.org
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      5 hours ago

      Yes but in UK GDPR protects the footage and information it captures from being sold. Your parking lot can only use it to fine for parking, if government wants it, “in theory” they need a Warrent.

    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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      15 hours ago

      They don’t just read plated. They’ll recognize scratches and dents on specific vehicles and also facial recognition. Basically complete human and machine tracking. Cities with flock cameras everywhere can track every move you make.

      • LogicalDrivel@sopuli.xyz
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        14 hours ago

        To add to the great info already here, Flock is a private company. Think like Ring doorbells but for “Traffic Cameras”. They are mainly used to bypass laws and constitutional rights because its a for profit business. They have weaseled their way into entire cities. They not only provide back door access to any agency that pays, but they are actively building profiles on everyone they record. They know where you live, what you drive, when you work, where you work, how many people are in your family. They store all this without our consent or even notifying anyone.
        Here’s a site that explains more and has an interactive map that shows where the cameras are located. https://deflock.org/

        • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
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          12 hours ago

          Looking forward to the headlines when some unknown heros burn these datacenters to the ground like that warehouse in California.

          Or maybe some hackers wipe all the data.

          It’s like the Ring of Power, it can’t be used for good. The power itself will corrupt anyone who tries to use it. It must be destroyed.

    • AmbitiousProcess (they/them)@piefed.social
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      16 hours ago

      We call 'em ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers) here, but yeah it’s essentially the same thing.

      Their cameras are regularly abused by police officers to stalk ex’s, have begun to be used outside their original scope, can be used illegally by one agency on behalf of another that shouldn’t have access, and have been used by Flock employees to, without permission from local authorities and against their own public statements, watch children in a gym for hours while partially erasing audit logs.

      They also use Flock to monitor protestors, and track abortion seekers, all while lying about their effectiveness in preventing crime, threatening people who follow their actions, and leaving countless cameras publicly exposed without password protection, covering up vulnerabilities, and lying to city officials about Flock officials watching cameras, like the ones spying on children.

      They’re really fucked up, and it’s my stance that the CEO of the company and any of the employees watching footage without consent should be criminally charged for espionage, and defrauding the public, among other things.

      • emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 hours ago

        Aww that’s disappointing but not surprising. I saw the headline of your third link and I was like “Damn cool move by wildlife conservation police, they’re helping people identify and track ICE agents and raids”. But of course that’s not what “monitoring for ICE” means, it means they’re helping ICE by monitoring the cameras for protestors.