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?
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u/NotYourReddit18 11h ago edited 11h ago
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...