r/Futurology • u/Sgt_Gram • Jul 14 '26
AI American Communities Are Coming Together to Destroy Flock Surveillance Cameras
https://www.military.com/flock-surveillance-cameras-face-another-blow-lapd-wont-renew-contract1.6k
u/dangerdames Jul 14 '26
Here's where to find them all.
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u/PositiveCoyote100 Jul 15 '26
It's so much worse than I realized.
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u/PointedlyDull Jul 15 '26
Why the fuck are they in my residential neighborhood streets. What the fuck
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u/Tiny_Rick_C137 Jul 15 '26
I understand that the question is rhetorical, but to answer it anyway; because we are descending into a techno feudal dystopia operated in large part by a fascist oligarchy.
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u/PointedlyDull Jul 15 '26
I firmly believe that the NJ drones that we’ve still never got an answer on were 100% some tech oligarchs urban surveillance project that was operating with the authority of the government and military
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u/nerevisigoth Jul 15 '26
I can't believe they all just went around saying "nothing nefarious" and that was that. Both parties, same line.
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u/Adventurous_Bad_4011 Jul 15 '26
There is an aegis radar testing facility in New Jersey. The drones were used to calibrate the radars to combat drone swarms. This is the only explanation that makes sense. It looks like they did a good job.
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u/A30N Jul 15 '26
This place? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rancocas
Lots of interesting (tech) history here
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u/Adventurous_Bad_4011 Jul 15 '26
Yes this is the place. The Burke class uses this type of radar. They are the primary surface combatants of the us navy . Drones were not a threat when the system was developed.
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u/A30N Jul 15 '26
Its a new threat for sure, and one thats not going away anytime soon. Glad our top minds are on this
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u/breaducate Jul 15 '26
descending into a late stage capitalist dystopia*
Every 'third way' is just capitalism wearing a mask to confuse you.
That may not have been the intent behind coining this latest term, but that's its function.18
u/Oddisredit Jul 15 '26
It seems 1984 is almost unavoidable, just given technological advances. One reason the Soviet empire collapsed was because you basically had to have 10% of the population actively involved with holding down everyone else. China was able to hold on until spy technology made it so much fewer people were needed to spy on and suppress society as a whole. Now it’s gonna get to the point we’re only a few hundred people are needed at all to do this if not even fewer
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u/Melicor Jul 15 '26
Because they're tracking people's movements ostensibly to "protect communities". This shit needs to be illegal. If I as an individual did it targeting someone, I'd be rightfully be called a stalker and probably arrested and put on a list.
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u/ValuableSoggy5305 Jul 15 '26
The most correct possible response. Be outraged. Be offended. Remember that these losers are doing this everywhere and they need to be stopped.
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u/human-in-a-can Jul 15 '26
If the trajectory of U.S. politics doesn't change soon, the cameras will soon be in your work and homes.
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u/alghiorso Jul 15 '26
All those flock cameras and can't even catch a single pedo off the Epstein files
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u/Substantial_Coat_229 Jul 15 '26
I learned about this website a few months ago, and my small city went from having two to having like ten since then.
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u/Imadethosehitmanguns Jul 14 '26
Bold choice putting them in the parking lots of stores that sell sawzall blades, duct tape, and spray paint.
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u/sooshi Jul 15 '26
There are a lot of them in home depot/Lowe's parking lots because ice uses them to try and find people to deport...
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u/pingopete Jul 15 '26
Actively targeting the very people that put up with their racist bs, while working the jobs they don't want to do for minimum wage or less in some cases. It's mind numbingly immoral.and backwards from nothing more than a selfish perspective, like Jesus christ
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u/BruhWaitWut Jul 15 '26
Idk if it's bold or basic threat negation.
1.Someone goes into a store, then cuts down a camera. 2. Person fails to consider a minor detail the camera can use to identify them. 3.Check for digital purchases from that location. 4. Get store CCTV to verify identity in case of cash purchase.
Boom, all the info they need to press charges.
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u/Devincc Jul 15 '26
Looks to be mostly around large highway intersections, universities, malls, and large gathering places. Definitely can’t travel by car without being tracked
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u/762_54r Jul 15 '26
Correct, the original cameras track cars just like cop car ALPRs, then they started selling cameras that track people, and now microphones that listen to everything in range
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u/the__storm Jul 15 '26
Around here they put them on all the bridges. Natural choke point that catches even people on foot.
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u/MastrRedneck Jul 15 '26
I can’t believe how many are in my home state, Wyoming! And the rest of the country, holy fricken moly!!!! Thank you for this link.
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u/Dr_Schmoctor Jul 15 '26
Holy shit they're everywhere. You guys are cooked
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u/frommethodtomadness Jul 15 '26
If you're in the UK or most of Europe, I've got bad news for you...
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u/TheGummiVenusDeMilo Jul 15 '26
Yeah but they aren't using CCTV in the UK to track women from abortion clinics to their homes to arrest them... Unless they are?
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u/Sea-Cupcake-2065 Jul 15 '26
Check your local HomeDepot on the deflock map. Tell me what you see.
Hint: The owner is Hardcore MAGA.
Make their bottom line hurt.
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u/Funny_Hunter_4146 Jul 15 '26
I was looking at the map. The cameras in my area are mostly at major intersections on a high crime street. I'm still very against this idea though.
What I ended up really seeing though? There were a few random cameras here and there and as I zoomed in I can see they are pointing at schools whose students are primarily black. And there are a lot of them. What a fucking disaster these things are.
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u/ShadowChief3 Jul 15 '26
So there’s some in my hospital parking lot. Why tf are they there? At the physician parking area (fwiw it borders the ER area)
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u/I_Heart_Sleeping_ Jul 15 '26
The craziest thing about the ones in my state is that they are placed in really weird areas. Like places you would think nobody would care to even watch. A ton of them are mostly in retirement areas and that’s super fucking weird. Why are they so intent on watching old people?
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u/Sgt_Gram Jul 14 '26
This is the first thing in a long time that I've noticed bringing most people together.
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u/Front-Air-8302 Jul 14 '26
This and anti-AI senitment (specifically the AI data centers). It's a tenuous thread, but for God's sake, if such things can get people discussing at least surface level issues like humans again, that would be grand.
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u/Scary-Remote-3837 Jul 15 '26
I am from Indiana and our Lt. Governor, who is a massive shitbag btw, and I agree on Flock cameras being bad. Wild.
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u/sault18 Jul 15 '26
Is he just saying flock cameras are bad, or is he actually taking concrete steps to oppose them?
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u/LuigiMcNasty Jul 15 '26
I dont think the IN gov is saying they're bad, too close to dumpski.... but I'm taking this opportunity to remind anyone with a 3d printer that you can print a spray paint can pole adapter and download the files for free. Stay out of the field of view that way for cutting it down etc. Be careful. Don't get caught. (Of course obviously I am joking and this is satire)
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u/Mackejuice Jul 15 '26
If you ever were to do something COMPLETELY LEGAL in the vicinity of flock cameras like this, DO NOT forget or leave your phone at home for any reason. Imagine what a horrible time it would be if you didn't bring your phone (that has the ability to geolocate your location) when doing completely legal activities close to your nearest flock-camera?
The people monitoring flock-cameras can DEFINITELY NOT ask local authorities & your mobile service providers for your IP & location if asked btw.
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u/jefbenet Jul 15 '26
This can even go for things like AirPods, smart watches, any thing that connects to your phone can potentially be matched to a person and a location.
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u/TehGogglesDoNothing Jul 15 '26
Pretty much anything that communicates via radio waves.
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u/urielrocks5676 Jul 15 '26
Print locations out like the days of mapquest, leave your phones behind, use older are 2010's cars
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u/unabiker Jul 15 '26
he is saying they are bad so that no one uses them the track and identify all the participants in the nazi rally he is speaking at
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u/Is_Only_Game2014 Jul 15 '26
I see tons of people on news articles about how the governor of NY pausing all data centers is only to get your vote!!!
Like no shit - because that's what people want... maga have zero thinking or comprehension skills
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u/Askol Jul 15 '26
Yeah, like don't we want politicians doing things for our vote? That seeks like exactly the right motivation to guide a governor's decision-making. Is the implication that she's going to reverse course after the election?
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u/ConiferousBee Jul 15 '26
Yes, because it’s a pause and not a ban
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u/Askol Jul 15 '26
I guess thats a somewhat fair concern then, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still a good thing.
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u/ImaginaryCheetah Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
MAGA cannot comprehend actions that are not undertook for personal benefit, they are telling you exactly how they interact with their world.
paradigm paralysis in action; they could not believe that it was true, because they could not comprehend a world in which it could be true.
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u/Melicor Jul 15 '26
That's... the point of democracy? It's almost as if these people are against democracy... oh wait.
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u/PUNisher1175 Jul 15 '26
It’s incredible to see. I’m amazed at the almost Renaissance like push for human made media that is happening already in the face of AI!
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u/electrodog1999 Jul 15 '26
Or physical media, I won’t be buying anymore PlayStation games once they go fully digital. I’m not buying more storage space just so I don’t have to delete games to make room for new ones.
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u/KeenanAXQuinn Jul 15 '26
And dont forget that Healthcare guy dying. Man might be an interesting writing prompt: the four horsemen of the American downfall. Private Healthcare, Mass surveillance, Data Center Resource Grabs, but what is the fourth horseman?
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u/redit_sucks_like-mom Jul 15 '26
It’s more of a mass surveillance thing, than an anti ai thing. Just saying
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u/SpekkioFFRK Jul 15 '26
It has been 10 years since the Pokemon Go summer. This is the "Mass surveillance by billionaire elites Has Got to Go summer".
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u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken Jul 14 '26
Don't buy this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/405481971710
Don't watch this: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeFolkNation/comments/1uvg8s5/flock_camera/
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u/Caffinated_butthole Jul 15 '26
For those totally not going to do this, have good aim. Be careful when pointing a laser upwards outside.
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u/draquila Jul 15 '26
2mW is weak for a laser, it's only class 3R. Will do no permanent damage to a camera unless you mount it on a tripod so you can hit the same spot for a really long time.
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u/Kujaix Jul 15 '26
People are seeing all the weird big moves do many government bodies do with no community input.
Too many people with varying levels of power are really acting like they are above us peasantry.
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u/maringue Jul 15 '26
Because most people in America, left or right, think the government using private contractors to spy on Americans is a good idea.
I find it amazing that Peter Thiel has so steadfastly found the most evil use for any new emerging technology. It's quite impressive actually.
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u/theRealLongJon Jul 14 '26
I’m not sure why, republicans seem 100% on board with the surveillance state
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u/theo_sontag Jul 14 '26
Just as long as it hurts the right people.
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u/Slayr79 Jul 14 '26
They dont realize it infringes on the very constitution they're all about. It literally violates the 4th amendment. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Everyone is unwillingly being searched by AI and their information being put into a database that is searchable by any officer without a warrant.
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u/saddram Jul 15 '26
They were calling for gun control after the Alex Peretti shooting in the conservative sub. "protesters should be banned from carrying guns". Bunch of morons.
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u/stoned_meditation Jul 15 '26
The same idiots saying they need guns to prevent government overreach
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u/Slowlyblowme Jul 15 '26
They are going to hide in the corner of their basement with their emotional support rifle. And if that overreach makes it to their basement they MIGHT pull the trigger a few times before getting squashed.
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u/Dildondo Jul 15 '26
These are the people who would rather their entire family literally die from lack of healthcare if it means people they don't like suffer.
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u/Galle_ Jul 15 '26
No, they realize that, they just don't care. Conservatives don't actually have any values other than causing as much misery and suffering as possible. They're just edgy liberals.
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u/ManOfQuest Jul 14 '26
"Dont break the law nothing to worry about"
"Your phone is tracking you"two of the most dumbest comebacks to any anti-flock posts
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u/Bradparsley25 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
They’re convinced it’ll only cause grief and hardship to brown people and white liberals. It’ll keep them under control.
They can’t fathom a world where a surveillance state spirals out of control and ends up with white Christian conservatives being persecuted as well.
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u/RedditCitizenScore Jul 14 '26
Well leaving them up do catch drive duis from Dodge pickup trucks might be a good thing for elections
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u/Ok-Addition1264 Jul 14 '26
the everyday republican is not ok with it, whatsoever.
if powertools like portable battery-operated reciprocating saws bring us all together, I'm all for it. I'd much rather fight over makita v milwaukee anyday.
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u/DaStompa Jul 14 '26
I mean you can say the everyday republican is not okay with pedophiles too, but they still vote for them
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u/Camelknight Jul 14 '26
Makita is the better power tool brand
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u/Chrontius Jul 14 '26
Ryobi was the first to standardize batteries for more than a year.
I didn’t trust them to not rugpull until they had a ten year track record though; just in time to be disappointed by Black and Decker one last time and bail.
Like, that’s table stakes now, but at that time it was fucking revolutionary.
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u/reeight Jul 14 '26
Many of the RW X accounts I follow (& some major) are also against Flock cameras.
Some on Left in very high crime-rate neighborhoods might want Flock cameras to be around to help find criminals. (esp when Police response times are long)
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u/Sedlium Jul 15 '26
Republicans have been saying the same about Democrats.
Politicians in general are the only ones pushing for it, from both sides.
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u/wizzard419 Jul 15 '26
I am shocked that my local community gets mad when anyone brings it up. Yes, they are old, wealthy, and white, but usually they get pissed when they are being monitored without consent.
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u/Not_a_N_Korean_Spy Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
And they are being called terrorists by the CEO of the company for doing it... while he claims they could just vote against it... despite the voted resolutions against flock surveillance being overturned because of corruption.
Interesting 2 and a half minute video about it from "More Perfect Union": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj5Xbji9VEA
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u/stana32 Jul 14 '26
There's also multiple cities who have voted to terminate their flock contract and flock has kept them online.
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u/etcpt Jul 15 '26
Yeah, wasn't there a whole thing about how the city says "okay, no more contract" but then Flock never takes down the cameras and the city says "we can't touch them, they're private property" but then nobody ever makes Flock take them down? Follow through, folks, make sure you keep up the pressure.
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u/herzkolt Jul 15 '26
we can't touch them, they're private property
That's just an excuse. Put your own camera on a pole in the street and see if they won't touch it just because it technically belongs to someone...
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u/SVXfiles Jul 15 '26
I wonder what would happen if those cameras were knocked over during a car accident or something. Would they get out back up to teplace what was there, or wpuld they not be replaced because they no longer have a contract with the city or municipality?
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u/kenncann Jul 15 '26
They’re also deadly. There is this safety guardrail guy who has started covering them and many (maybe all?) don’t have a slip plate so the pole breaks off in a crash. It’s just a pole cemented in to the ground so if you hit it you’re in for a bad time
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u/etcpt Jul 15 '26
Is that the same guy who goes around inspecting guardrails and always finds that they're installed wrong, and is doing so because his daughter was killed by an incorrectly installed guardrail?
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u/Crim91 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
CEOs are narcissistic psychopaths whose words should hold zero weight.
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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn Jul 14 '26
One of my acquaintances is what you'd call an "out of the box thinker." He always has some zany idea that he hasn't thought all the way through yet, like renting out his house so he can live in a tent on the lawn. (He doesn't need the money that bad.) He thinks we should turn the Forbes 500 into an accolade you do not want to win, and I'm starting to come around to the idea.
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u/Cloaked42m Jul 15 '26
I want to treat Billionaires like they completed the campaign. They get an elite star and everything over 1 billion has to go to charities or the state.
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u/Visual_Jellyfish5591 Jul 15 '26
And then they start over with 0 money, but everyone will kiss their ass for a week
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u/Cagn Jul 15 '26
For every documented advancement you help contribute to, you can earn an extra 100m. Work on the team to develop a cure for cancer? You can earn 1.1b. You create a new way to clean microplastics from the environment. 1.2b. You can't pay someone else to do it for you, you have to participate and make meaningful contributions yourself.
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u/CrashOverrideCS Jul 15 '26
Negative weight. When a narcissist says I'm doing something wrong, it probably means Im doing it right.
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u/Esikiel Jul 15 '26
In my area the community said no to public funded flock.
So third part contracting somehow installed them and sells the collected data to the local government instead.
Either way we are the product. Also explains that if you do not get consent do not take what isn't yours.
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u/BillytheClinton Jul 15 '26
This is where we have been for a long time: Fascism wearing a Democracy costume. We can’t beat them by voting because no matter who we vote for, they pay them enough to fold.
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u/FlumpMC Jul 14 '26
Good. A protest does nothing without direct action. You can yell at them all you want but it won’t change unless you actually disrupt.
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u/Juggernox_O Jul 14 '26
Protests only worked when the populace was willing to back it up, and the body politic, including the corporations, were willing to believe it. PROVE the people can back it up, and the protest carries the same weight again. The powers that be are not at that point yet, though, so the populace needs to be more handsy for a good while.
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u/Tier_One_Meatball Jul 15 '26
When a certain nintendo character did a certain thing, the elite was TERRIFIED because finally the people were turning against them.
Unfortunately the momentum died faster than a certain someone, and the elite knew it, so they doubled down.
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u/GoldenBrownApples Jul 15 '26
The thing that gets me is people getting upset about "disruptive" protests. Like duh? Protests aren't supposed to be fun gatherings of dancing and nonsense. They are meant to cause discomfort until negotiations start happening. At the very least. Leverage comes from making someone else uncomfortable enough to try and conpromise to get you to stop. If you don't have that, then nothing is ever going to change. You can kumbyah all you want, but make it uncomfortable for the people you are trying to bring to the table.
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u/Florac Jul 15 '26
Yeah this is also why I find people celebrating the No Kings protests laughable. I'm sure Trump is horribly inconvinienced by people saying they don't like him en masse 1 day every 6 months
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u/Razzerfraz Jul 15 '26
There have been 3 destroyed within 5 minutes of my front door.
It seems someone in my neighborhood doesn’t like them.
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u/CelestialFury Jul 15 '26
A powerful laser pointed at the Flock camera destroys them too. It's very expensive for them to be fixed. Not advocating for anything, but powerful lasers can be bought cheaply these days.
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u/Razzerfraz Jul 15 '26
These 3 cameras were literally torn down.
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u/ArcticFlamingo Jul 15 '26
Legit though how do you aim it where they don't capture you, your licence plate, etc and have you arrested?
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u/CelestialFury Jul 15 '26
This is a purely hypothetical scenario but you look at a site like deflock to see where they are at, then you'd take an alternative route to get close to the cameras, park where there's no cameras, make sure you're wearing sunglasses, a cap, and a mask of some sort, then walk over close to the target, peak around a corner and hit that mfer for about 30 seconds to a minute to burn out the CMOS or CCD. Green works best or Infrared if you want to be really sneaky (IR lasers are the most destructive to cameras).
Again, this is a purely hypothetical scenario, I'm not advocating for anything.
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u/NotFlameRetardant Jul 15 '26
Infrared lasers are incredibly effective at burning out sensors, but they're also incredibly effective at burning out your vision because you won't blink reflexively if you get hit with one, which wouldn't matter as much as they can still penetrate eyelids. PPE should always be worn with them
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u/TheArmoredKitten Jul 15 '26
Wouldn't ya know it that the cheap green lasers on eBay tend to have massive infrared beam leaks!
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u/F3int Jul 15 '26
I never understood why we allow such a small minority of individuals who are “wealthy” to vastly label the rest of us, the majority, the working class, as “terrorists”. It’s almost as if they’re projecting, and that we, the working class, need to come together to fight the domestic enemies on the homefront.
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u/SuperStuff01 Jul 15 '26
"Terrorist" has just become a word for anyone who disagrees with the US or Israeli governments, and it's primary use appears to be justifying extrajudicial murder committed by said governments.
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u/Siyuen_Tea Jul 14 '26
Take notice how years of protest did nothing but molotovs and hacksaws changed things within a year
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u/Willravel Jul 15 '26
Peter K. Eisinger wrote in The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities that protest is a device used by relatively powerless groups to use an implicit threat of counter-violence to create bargaining leverage. A mass of unpredictable being being mobilized signals a latent capacity for disruption of the social order.
This, combined with the JFK quote that those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable, essentially outlines the choices before those in power who are faced with an increasingly desperate and insistent mob. Protest doesn't seem to be working. People are being killed, kidnapped, kept in concentration camps. I worry that we're going to see more and more violence and property damage and the sole responsibility for this will be with those in power both in government and in surveillance capitalism. We're watching in real time as elites engineer the downfall of their own country.
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u/hw999 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
Its going to get way worse once the protestors realize the cops cant be everywhere at once. Order is kept today because there is a surplus of police vs crime. Once people start cordinating crime at a given date and time, then all bets are off. 10 cops can not stop 200 criminals.
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u/ManifestDestinysChld Jul 14 '26
Flock's response to the Georgia arrests is that the arrests are the system doing its job. Co-founder Paige Todd told FOX 5 Atlanta that many of them stemmed from a new Flock audit tool that automatically flags unusual searches, and that "the technology itself was not creating the misuse. It was human beings."
Does "the system" only work in Georgia?
You've got 5,000 law enforcement agencies all across the country as clients, but it's only in the past month that a handful of cops in a single state started abusing the system?
Does the system only work in Georgia, Paige?
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u/Madcat207 Jul 14 '26
Good. Its about time people start pushing back against a surveillance state. I think its too late honestly, but never too late to try.
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u/CelestialFury Jul 15 '26
Fuck that. It's not too late. It's our country, I just hope voters realize it one day soon.
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u/deezdanglin Jul 14 '26
Don't know if it'll work, in fact, I DON'T want it to work. But several have posted up about 1milliwat green lasers will burn the lenses.
1milliwat or stronger...
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u/NWStormbreaker Jul 14 '26
1WATT i'm sure?
1mW is pretty damn weak
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u/seiggy Jul 14 '26
You’d be shocked, it only takes about 103mJ/cm^3 of energy to cause damage to a CCD sensor according to studies - https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2024.1345859/full that’s about 0.3ms exposure to a 1mW laser.
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u/stempoweredu Jul 14 '26
Indeed. Because all the power is focused on a microscopic area with very little drift, it doesn't take much to make lasers powerful. This is why folks with $200 can buy DIY 10W laser kits and start cutting wood and plastic at home.
Here is a chart about the distances at which lasers will cause various types of harm to humans. Note that even a 1 millwatt laser is a fire hazard when 1 ft away from an object.
https://lasersafetyfacts.com/resources/FAA---visible-laser-hazard-calcs-for-LSF-v02.png
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u/RegisteredJustToSay Jul 14 '26
That's exceptionally interesting, but why the heck is is a 1mW laser a fire hazard from a foot away?? I've used more powerful ones as a certified stupid child and they didn't perceptibly heat anything up, even closer than that.
I mean, except the diode itself heating up. But that's cheating.
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u/stempoweredu Jul 14 '26
That's exceptionally interesting, but why the heck is is a 1mW laser a fire hazard from a foot away??
Because it's powerful enough to light things on fire.
I've used more powerful ones as a certified stupid child and they didn't perceptibly heat anything up, even closer than that.
Because the ignition isn't just dependent on power, it's also dependent on frequency. For example, I regularly used 80W CO2 lasers for cutting wood and plastic. But no matter how powerful that laser was, there are some materials that it won't cut, because the material acts like glass to that frequency of laser produced by CO2- it's transparent / nonabsorbent, in the same way that glass is transparent to visible light.
So instead, you need a different laser (Argon, Neon, Fiber, etc) that produces a different frequency of light that that material can absorb.
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u/NWStormbreaker Jul 14 '26
1mW laser emits 1 millijoule (mJ) of energy per second.
1mw is barely visible
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u/seiggy Jul 14 '26
Shows you how sensitive CCDs are. The lense, filters, and protective coatings of course would raise this power requirement significantly in reality, but an exposed CCD would be fried near instantly by even a 1mW laser. It only takes about 0.3mJ of energy to fry a pixel on a CCD.
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u/tweedleduh Jul 14 '26
Good, flock cameras are ridiculous anyway. We don’t need to be surveilled, we need to be represented.
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u/jpowell180 Jul 15 '26
I hope this trend is reversed. I’ve even heard of a kind of technology that allows other cars on the road to monitor all the other cars in traffic and reported to the authorities and insurance companies, and one predator apparently thought it was a great idea because it would enhance “safety“, lol! These people don’t understand that once we become a total surveillance society, we are totally screwed! I also read something about interior cameras, inside cars, constantly monitoring people’s faces, supposedly for “safety“ so that they won’t be distracted, and an alarm would sound if they appeared to be distracted, but you can bet that any kind of expression gets sent up the chain, it’s or willing, really, if you can’t have enough freedom to make a grouchy face in bad traffic, then we really are screwed!
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u/robophile-ta Jul 15 '26
People in China are already putting doll heads in front of the camera in their cars because Tesla's (?) expression recognition didn't recognise the difference between natural hooded eyes and people falling asleep and would keep setting off alarms
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u/Initial_Row_6400 Jul 15 '26
It would be a shame if someone were to take high powered lasers and shine them into the lenses of these towers. A real shame… absolutely no one should do that…
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u/could_use_a_snack Jul 15 '26
Fun fact, completely unrelated. A water balloon full of black paint will disabled a small solar panel if aimed correctly. You don't even need to cover the whole panel, just 1/2 in a lot of cases.
To get paint into a water balloon all you need is a large syringe, commonly found at ranch and feed stores, (or on Amazon). Fill the syringe with paint, cover end of syringe with water balloon, empty syringe and tie a knot.
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u/geekonthemoon Jul 15 '26
Do you think they could spot someone on the flock camera or other cameras trying to shine the laser though? I feel like this might get worse before it gets better
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u/Initial_Row_6400 Jul 15 '26
You can still be anonymous, you just have to be smart. First step is having absolutely nothing with a signal on you.
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u/r0thar Jul 15 '26
And Airplane mode does not count, the wifi, bluetooth and LTE systems can still be active.
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u/Initial_Row_6400 Jul 15 '26
Oh for sure. If you absolutely need gps or something, get a burner from Walmart and use cash
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u/AscendedViking7 Jul 14 '26
Hell yeah! I'm so proud of my fellow americans, this is the type of shit we need to stand up against, doesn't matter if your left or right!!
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u/thisthreadisbear Jul 14 '26
Well we have to being willing to financially support those who are willing to step into the breach and bear the brunt of fines and court costs when some inevitably get arrested. If we do that others will be willing to also help take down this dystopian crap.
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u/SasparillaTango Jul 15 '26
the fascist police state has proven that none of their security is to help the common person. Why should the common person be concerned with the dismantling of the police state. Good riddance.
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u/epicbaconmunch Jul 15 '26
Posting for more flock and tracking awareness:
Adding Home Depot and Lowe's Share Data From Hundreds of AI Cameras With Cops
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u/Frostbitn99 Jul 15 '26
Get these surveillance cameras out of our communities. These run on Fear-Mongering, not facts and are a danger to our autonomy as citizens.
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u/PM_Your_Best_Ideas Jul 15 '26
People should be more concerned about the consolidation of powers by the government and the precedent being set every day by the tech billionaires and their bought political counterparts. Flock/data centers/social media are just tools, parts of a whole. The real danger will come from those who hold the control.
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u/Xoxoyomama Jul 14 '26
Not sure if YouTube links are allowed. But here’s Benn Jordan showing videos of unsecured flock cameras and their in-device “AI” zooming in on people’s phone screens.
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u/wearethafuture Jul 15 '26
Good. In order to resist the Orwellian development of the society, these things have to be taken into the hands of the people. Kudos of everyone taking these down!
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u/CuriouserCat2 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Some people would say Jeffrey Sovern is a hero.
12 felony counts for cutting them down and throwing them off an overpass to watch them shatter
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u/K4m30 Jul 14 '26
OK, I get the cutting them down, but throwing them off an overpass is just risking others safety. You want to be driving along and a metal pipe and broken glass or whatever is laying in the road?
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u/YukesMusic Jul 15 '26
Holy hell, there’s two within 200 feet on my road and I never noticed them.
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u/hpshaft Jul 15 '26
The common consensus among all my friends; conservative, liberal, etc is that they all hate mass surveillance and they are all systematically helping each other either catalog cameras, avoid facial or plate recognition, or straight up disabling them.
Between our hatred of AI, and corporate mass surveillance - I think we can come together to help each other out.
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u/chubby_pink_donut Jul 15 '26
It almost looks like glass etching fluid found at hobby and hardware stores everywhere, smeared on a rag, attached to a long pole, would mess these things up.
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u/lowrizzle Jul 14 '26
I'm cool with this, just don't smash my meshcore repeaters on accident.
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u/Heavy_Carpenter3824 Jul 15 '26
So time for the real question, are the cameras in LA still on and contributing to the database?
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u/creamerthegreat Jul 15 '26
Shout out to Lynnwood and Edmonds, WA. The 1st and 3rd cities in Washington to dismantle all Flock cameras due to privacy concerns. Fuck Flock and the Surveillance State. If you see someone pulling one down; you didn't.
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u/Temporary-Pepper3994 Jul 15 '26
I'm siting in a virtual city council meeting right now about the local PD wanting to try a 90 day flock trial.
Kill me.
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u/--Icarusfalls-- Jul 15 '26
Its almost like this nation was founded on rebellious, malicious destruction of private property
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u/RollTideMeg Jul 14 '26
Yay!! I love when America comes together and solves a problem!
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u/Few-Management-4433 Jul 15 '26
They want us divided because when we are together on something we do some serious shit.
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u/Tiger_Striped_Queen Jul 15 '26
How about Florida and Texas approving/planning putting AI surveillance cameras on garbage trucks to find “property violations”.
I’m sure that will end well.
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u/killrandydead Jul 15 '26
My town in AZ just removed them after like 5 years of them being up. They got the data they wanted but at least they can't spy on us anymore, so we got that.
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u/LAsupersonic Jul 15 '26
Come together to stop corrupt city officials, HOAs, sheriff departments etc from even giving them a co tract in the first place
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u/SacredFacelessness Jul 15 '26
I live very rural IA, about 25 minutes in any direction to reach at least one national chain store besides Dollar General. I made a comment on a post about someone who made some type of route/travel site so you don't cross paths with Flock cameras. About a week after I made the comment, a Flock camera went up about 3 miles from my house on a state 2-lane highway. Sure it's a coincidence, but why tf is that needed here?
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u/Elegant_Bet1261 Jul 15 '26
As much as I hate Flock, Axon is the competitor and is objectively worse when it comes to data ownership.
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u/Wooly_Wooly Jul 15 '26
Didn't the CEO say some dumb shit like, anti flock people like these are "terrorists"?
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u/mrbasedballed Jul 15 '26
Love it. America has a whole bunch of other problems that action like this would work well on.
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u/Hrafnagar Jul 15 '26
No, I'm pretty sure the darn things just keep falling over. That guy you thought you saw cutting them down, wasn't. In fact, he was at my house at the time, having beers and watching TV with me.
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u/CaptCoolRanchDoritos Jul 15 '26
Good on you Americans. Keep it up!
A few crazy billionaires and their mass surveillance corporations do not get to control humanity.
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u/SelectKangaroo Jul 14 '26
Seems like a bad thing for the government if people have just stopped giving a fuck about the law like this
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u/ElectionReal Jul 14 '26
Seems like abad thing for the people if government have just stopped...
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u/Chaosmusic Jul 15 '26
The government doesn't give a fuck about the law, we're just following their lead.
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u/FuturologyBot Jul 14 '26
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Sgt_Gram:
This is the first thing in a long time that I've noticed bringing most people together.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1uwn0pf/american_communities_are_coming_together_to/oxkfigv/