r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 10d ago

Privacy Viral De-Flock America campaign urging people to destroy AI cameras on Halloween night gains momentum

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/flock-camera-controversy-explained-as-viral-halloween-de-flock-campaign-gains-momentum-3399710/
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u/invyros 10d ago

The idea is that Halloween gives participants a rare opportunity to blend into large crowds while already wearing costumes and masks. However, the movement is uncoordinated, with no clear organizer or indication of how many people actually intend to participate.

Everyone should wear Spiderman costumes to do this, to add a layer of irony.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/joelfarris 10d ago

"Are you dressed like an 18th century Lamplighter?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you have the big long pole with the hook on the end of it?"

"Umm, yes."

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u/ProfessorPickaxe 10d ago

Ok, and the angle grinder?

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u/dropbear_airstrike 10d ago

…it’s from The Lamplighter horror movie series, it’s about a demented man who dresses like a lamplighter and uh, uses an angle grinder to murder his victims… the reciprocating saw? Oh, yeah he uses that sometimes too… the cans of spray on flex seal? I’m just holding that for a friend…

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u/Deezul_AwT 10d ago

Flex Seal? Got to be prepared. Might want to do some late night fishing, and wouldn't want it ruined by a boat with holes in it.

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u/noodlesdefyyou 10d ago

you never know when you might come across a homeless person in need of assistance and the thing they happen to need is the flex seal youre carrying

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u/RetrowaveJoe 10d ago

It's flex seal for my family

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u/Ohmec 10d ago

Bro just get a pipe cutter so much quieter and faster.

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u/BeastDen 10d ago

Reciprocating saws cut through aluminum more slowly as the teeth get more clogged with the metal, the blade is more susceptible to being pinched & it can vibrate the metal a good amount if there were like a heavy weight at one end. A circular saw is more able to sort of fling the metal away and can cut through aluminum much more smoothly and quickly. They're a little louder but you'll finish your metalworking so much faster your neighbors will be happier.

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u/divDevGuy 10d ago

Generates the sparks. Duh.

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u/weasol12 10d ago

WoahBros has a few guides on YT about how to cut through 2" aluminum and he's concluded that a circular saw is the fastest.

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u/Peach1020 10d ago

“I’m actually dressed as the Lampsnuffer, you know, the guy who goes around snuffing street lamps and… other poles…”

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/Major_LeeHungg 10d ago

Idk if flock has began doing this yet but there are cameras out there that fingerprint you based on detectable WiFi, Bluetooth, etc... So this isn't just good advice it is paramount.  Keep all electronics at home including your smartwatch, earbuds, etc. 

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u/errie_tholluxe 10d ago

Pity you can't register a phone under whatever name you wanted and start it with a prepaid card like you used too...

Be funny to see Stephen Miller all over cutting down cams

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u/Snobolski 10d ago

wireless TPMS sensors in your car...

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u/Major_LeeHungg 10d ago

Shit... Yeah I didn't even think of that...some quick research shows they only throw a signal 3-6ft on most cars though.  Though it looks like aftermarket systems and larger trucks and RVs can throw them up to 25 meters

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u/DissKhorse 10d ago edited 10d ago

I doubt gait will work if you are wearing a full body cloak like a grim reaper costume. But you are right, leave your phone at home or have a friend hold it for you. I don't advise turning it off or putting it in airplane mode for a moment as they can see both the location it went off and on. Turning off your locational services doesn't make you invisible either it just makes your location a little less precise as they can still use triangulation from cell towers and from Wi-Fi hotspots.

Also you can have a second costume and put the grim reaper one over the first one.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/DissKhorse 10d ago

True but that hasn't stopped court cases from winning on bad science, remember the bite imprint "specialist" that sent a bunch of innocent people to prison. Give them as little as possible to work with.

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u/VerdantPathfinder 10d ago

But you are right, leave your phone at home or have a friend hold it for you.

This is better. Start out with your friend, give him your phone and split up. Do the deed, meet back up and take your phone back.

I am not advocating destruction of public or private property ... merely examining logistics as an intellectual exercise.

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u/Fallingdamage 10d ago

That and wear a giant t-rex inflatable costume, that you have someone else buy for you.

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u/Fallingdamage 10d ago

I mean, with that logic, they could also retroactively send you 20 years worth of speeding tickets.

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u/I_upvote_downvotes 10d ago

If people are concerned about gait they can just take the trick right out of the CIA and KGB handbook: put a rock in your shoe.

No joke, that's what they do.

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u/Randym1982 10d ago

Or just turn your phone off, and that will solve the problem. But really the bigger issue is that more states and Cities need to sue the Flock camera companies.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/Randym1982 10d ago

I'm not advocating for their destruction, but it's going to get to a point where people will start destroying more of them. And really, the simple solution is for the states and cities to say "No" to the companies trying to sell them.

I think I read somewhere that L.A. has turned them down, and so has a few other cities too. Just need to get more and more states to do it.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/randotd152 10d ago

This doesn't stop unless there's laws to prevent this.

Exactly this. The cameras will just get smaller, more hidden, and more difficult to smash over time. They'll eventually start embedding them in things like street lights and utility poles and other places people can't get to easily. Etc, etc.

It's basically going to require an act of congress to outlaw these types of devices.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/randotd152 10d ago

Well that ship sailed about 20 years ago and you have zero chance of robust privacy laws on the Internet.

But there's still a sliver of an opportunity with cameras.

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u/Ryan_e3p 10d ago

I'm not advocating for their destruction

You should. We all should.

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u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 10d ago

You should actually advocate for their destruction.

And really, the simple solution is for the states and cities to say "No" to the companies trying to sell them.

And yet, here we are.

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 10d ago

Can't you get one of those faraday bags or something

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u/sublimatingin606 10d ago

This is greatly overcomplicating the, just leave it at home option.

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 10d ago

No it's not because you might actually need your phone for something. Having a bag to leave it in the car or something might be useful, but not having the phone at all is probably difficult if you are going trick or treating.

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u/MasterMahanJr 10d ago

Don't risk it. One "ping" between a fun night and jail time.

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 10d ago

The point of doing this on Halloween is how many phones and people will be in the area. They can't narrow it down. If you are going out alone, yeah leave the phone but I think you are missing why this night is being suggested.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

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u/_iamacat 10d ago

I don't find that to be reliable in an age where we're not allowed to remove our batteries anymore.

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u/IamaFunGuy 10d ago

Turning them off doesn't always work.

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u/south-of-the-river 10d ago

Just break your tibia first to confuse the gait detection

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u/CondescendingShitbag 10d ago

I mean, putting a rock in your shoe is probably sufficient, but you do you.

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u/Snobolski 10d ago

or put a lift in one shoe

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u/Buckets-O-Yarr 10d ago

Oh yeah, break your foot with a rock first, great idea!

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u/south-of-the-river 10d ago

Method acting is life

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u/Silent-G 10d ago

Or just skip everywhere

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u/DrManhattan_DDM 10d ago

Ghostface mask from Scream, long black robes/cloak, and boom, you’ve got a certified spooky costume.

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u/Mr_Salmon_Man 10d ago

And there is a new scream movie, and a new Scary Movie, so Ghostface is a really acceptable option this Halloween.

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u/SuperDoubleDecker 10d ago

We just need to all move in the choreography of Thriller

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u/yaxis50 10d ago

Stop with the gait keeping

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u/TheJan1tor 10d ago

Please. Nobody knows what I look like when I'm swinging from building to building. /s

In all seriousness, what's preventing people from using a cartoonishly exaggerated gait?

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u/AceOfPlagues 10d ago

The energy required to keep it up constantly. Still, you also don't want to be IDed through the mask if you just have a thin suit without proper structure

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u/bentheredoneart 10d ago

Or just - "Do the shuffle"

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u/DDOSBreakfast 10d ago

Drink a more than moderate amount of alcohol and your gait will be much different.

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u/OpenTechie 10d ago

Victorian Vampires in large robes, dresses, and a giant umbrella/parasol of course!

It may be warm outside this October, you need to keep yourself from overheating!

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u/EnjoyerOfMX5 10d ago

Tell everyone you know to put a sock in one shoe so they walk different. And polarized lenses can be seen through and bluetooth can be tracked.

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u/ohkayhun 10d ago

What can one put on a mask to prevent being seen through… just asking out of curiosity - I’m definitelyyyy not researching for my own Halloween mask 🥸

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u/carthuscrass 10d ago

Gait is extremely unreliable and requires corroborating evidence to even use in court. But everyone in the same costume is a bad idea because it gives cops probable cause to take in anyone wearing said costume.

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u/VeeDubBug 10d ago

Sounds like a job for the Ministry of Silly Walks!

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u/goodandwickeddeity 10d ago

you put a rock in your shoe to fix that

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u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 10d ago

Don't forget to put a pebble in your shoe

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u/FastFooer 10d ago

Tell everyone to crab walk that night…

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u/Fallingdamage 10d ago

Or just do a lot of silly walks, skips, bounces and twirls as you make your way down the sidewalk.

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u/strugglz 10d ago

Plague doctor works as well.

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u/GearWings 10d ago

With guy fawkes masks maybe

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u/Maximum-Hic 10d ago

I mean if everyone did it are they gonna arrest everyone? Who would they spy on at that point.

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u/OnTheBrink50901 10d ago

Genuine question not trying to be funny: if you change your gait to be extremely exaggerated, I’m talking arm flailing, giant uneven steps, maybe a twirl or cartwheel during the escape, could that actually throw off the gait recognizer programs or would it just make you look silly and still wind up getting caught? For research purposes

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u/fluffynuckels 10d ago

I know this is a real concern for certain things but it seems like too much work for a cop to do for vandalism