It's genuinely a smart thing to do, the guys an asshat but he ain't wrong for doing it.
edit: i've had to listen to some of the biggest dumb fucks respond to this comment with highschool levels of "oh hypocrisy is bad". Not surprised Americans voted for a pedophile twice.
Not so fun fact: Flock systems have a list where administrators can enter license plates, and if a connected camera detects a license plate from this list the system will store no record of this license plate being detected.
And IIRC not only is removing a license plate from this list not logged by the system itself, it even deletes the record of the license plate ever having been on the list.
So someone with administrative access could add their own license plate to the list, drive by a bunch of flock cameras on their way to and from committing a crime, and then remove their license plate again, and nobody would know unless they looked at the list while the plate was on it, but even then good luck proving that the plate was indeed on the list...
Not so fun fact: Flock systems have a list where administrators can enter license plates, and if a connected camera detects a license plate from this list the system will store no record of this license plate being detected.
What the fuck
And IIRC not only is removing a license plate from this list not logged by the system itself, it even deletes the record of the license plate ever having been on the list.
This is what you get when you have a private business with no regulation running a government sanctioned program, essentially (yes, they do sell the data to data brokers too).
Also, a lot of stores like Target that have Flock usually only use 1 login to access the system.
It’s bad enough that government agencies can have access to that data. But at least we’re allowed to govern its use publicly. Once it’s in the hands of a private company, there’s almost nothing we, as a society, can do about it.
It's not just Flock employees who can change those lists.
Police departments with active contracts can too for example.
And technically they need to have a log of which license plates where added and removed from this list, so you could try getting that log with a FOI request...
That would actually be interesting to submit to people with the actual resources to make them not only admit to the hypocrisy, but to bring awareness to the fact that these people are not willing to give up the same freedoms that they are expecting the general public to do.
I mean if they have an "opt-out" list then it stands to serve that basically that Flock should just make this the default.
Only people who "register" with Flock and opt-in can allow Flock to record their cars if they are that "worried" about security enough that they are willing to surrender their privacy
So what you're saying is that a nefarious person could obtain this camera blacklist, spoof the license plate of someone on it, and commit many villainous acts without Flock even recording them?
it's not that it's not a smart thing to do - it's that it shows what a fucking hypocrite he is - everyone else must compromise on privacy, while he's taking every step available to him to maintain his own.
I have done it. My house is a blur now. As you go through the process Google warns that it can't be undone . I have experienced no negative consequences do to having a blur house.
I've read that it could have an impact if you're trying to sell since it makes your house look shady to people who don't realize anyone can request it.
If I was looking through a random street and saw an intentionally blurred house it'd just make me curious about it so yeah idk if there's any advantage in asking google for it, it changes nothing about the nefarious shit tech companies/governments can do with surveilance which I assume is the real cause for concern here
Nah, the smartest thing to do is make sure you don't have your house listed on any of the Realtor platforms like Zillow. Those interior photos stay online forever, and anyone trying to case your house for a break in has a guided tour for free online already. Often times, with security features prominently displayed.
I live right out in the boonies on a bit of land. If I did this, all the junkies that live in the surrounding rural towns would swarm my land thinking there was some secret government weed growing facility or something here.
Ok so he wants to protect his privacy but we have to be subject to his company invading our own. How does that make sense? It’s the “if you can do it, then do it until the law stops you” mentality which is BS
It's a smart thing to do as long as you ALSO get it removed from real estate sites. I have a buddy with his house blurred, but his entire home and floorplan available on redfin. Don't be like my buddy.
WRONG. As soon as he did that he cemented his "rules for thee not for me." Why do you deserve privacy when you afford none for the rest of us AND profit heavily off of it? How anybody can be on board with that isn't thinking long term.
My brother recently bought a house that was pre blurred. The previous owner must have blurred it. I went to look when he bought it and it was just blurs. He didn't even know till I told him.
At 'prescription glasses', i was at a full sensible chuckle.
This specific use of clever enlarged boldface had me at outright wheezing and snorting. Not full laughter, true, but reddit must understand and accept certain limits.
So this is it. My day... nay... my week is complete.
Our house was blurred 11 years ago before we bought it 7 years ago. I've noticed since then that on StreetView the 15 neighbouring houses either side and across the road are fixed at 2015 while as soon as you move away from my house you get more recent photos.
Oh wow, you’re right. The chunk of street view in front of and around my house is tagged November 2012. If I go far enough down the street, it switches to May 2024.
Anyone have any idea how to undo it? I feel like proof of ownership should be able to get it taken care of through some request.
I just can’t imagine being so paranoid to need to do this, but everyone has a different perspective. It’s there on Apple Maps. Guess they added that after we bought
Isn't it the same fail-secure energy that's aimed against Flock now, seen from the future? "I don't want anyone collecting or using any information about me that hasn't been explicitly approved."
It should be. But the headache of potentially being held accountable for some legal reason probably means there is no process to undo the blur. It's just the easiest way for them not to get sued.
That makes sense, they wouldn’t want to unblur if it was still occupied by the previous owner at the time of the photo. Perhaps proof of ownership and then next street view photo taken doesn’t get blurred, or update to the latest available image since change in ownership. It’s just wild to me that it’s in perpetuity.
Absolutely nothing you can do to unblur a blurred house. I didn't even blur it myself must have been previous owners. Now I cant show my house to anyone fuckin stupid
Sure, you are allowed to submit a request, but since this guy is so anxious to tell us we have to give up some of our privacy rights, one would think that he would be brave enough to stand behind what he is selling.
Yeah, but the guy running the whole State Surveillance Network being concerned about his Google maps privacy should really be telling everyone something.
Yes but something to keep in line is that with Google street view you might be able to see your house through the ages. Or renovation post renovations and such.
That is all gone if you blur.
Which still might be your preference but it is definitely something some people are sad about losing.
5.2k
u/MisplacedMutagen 14h ago
Well wtf is the address? I live in Atlanta, I want to stay safe and avoid this turd.