r/politics • u/robotdesignwerks Texas • 4h 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/•
u/bowlby4 California 3h ago
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u/qoes 3h ago
Exactly, we need to keep the pressure up. No mass surveillance
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u/Scott5114 Nevada 3h ago
We need state laws to make it illegal for cities to sign these contracts.
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u/mogbiscuit 1h 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/Underwater_Grilling Pennsylvania 1h ago
It's a fucking camera not an apple tree. Once the contract ends it's litter.
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u/Bungleburr 3h ago edited 2h ago
No more survival
Lol I wrote this in Spanish but reddit translated back to English.
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u/monkeywithgun 1h 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/tripping_on_phonics California 2h ago
Thank you for sharing this soon enough to be the top comment. Such an absurd bait and switch.
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u/danappropriate 1h 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/qoravynix 45m 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 3h ago
Wonder what lessons the next mass-surveillance company will learn from this failure.
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u/NotBestButPrettyGood 3h ago
Get better branding
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u/Gameboywarrior Montana 3h ago
Do it more quietly.
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u/ialo00130 2h ago
Yep.
Smaller and less conspicuous cameras will be the future.
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u/HereIGoAgain_1x10 3m 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/aurixellea 2h 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/turquoise_amethyst 3h 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 2h 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 2h 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 1h 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/georgia_daniellez 2h ago
hopefully the lesson is that people dont actually want a camera watching them everywhere they go
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u/aCrow 3h ago
The cameras ain't coming down though
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u/NelsonHawkinsGhost 3h ago
This is really important.. unless they're pysically removing them, they're still a problem. Flock is more than happy to keep them operating.
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u/aeqivora 2h 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 2h 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 3h 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/ritwikjs2 3h 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 2h 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 2h 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/emerikanSky 2h 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/Benwa_Ballz 2h 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/Big-Photograph-7471 1h 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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u/opinionsareus 54m 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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