this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2026
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We NEED to put this kind of pressure on all ALPR companies. I don't mean to take the foot off the gas with Flock, but I'm so afraid that Axon and Motorola and others will swoop in once Flock is gone, and everyone will be done with/tired of this particular public fight.
But also put that pressure on your local city councils (and other state and local government entities) that keep perpetuating this surveillance.
They are often the ones signing on the dotted line for these contracts at the insistence of their ostensibly subordinate law enforcement.
This sort of data collection by private companies should just straight up be illegal. If they're not beholden to the bill of rights, I don't want them maintaining this sort of data.
What about, let's say Google? They have much more personal informations about you than a camera will ever provide. They basically have the location data of 75% of Americans at any minutes. Why don't you start by putting pressure on them?
That is opt-in. Doesn't make it ethical but it is a much different question. I can always leave my phone at home but I can't opt out of Flock cameras.
I mean yeah, you could also not have a phone at that point.
I could argue that you can cover your face or stay home if you don't want to be filmed in public.
To be clear, I despise Flock but it's just a camera business. You have much bigger problem than that and shooting the CEO wont magically fix anything. Where do they get the database to identify people? Focusing on Flock while GAFAM gets your fingerprints, emails, locations, contacts, heart rate, etc. is just.... not a good strategy. Mass surveillance goes way beyond camera and Flock is just a business, they will get replace by another one if you don't fix the problem at it's source.
Be careful with extreme language. There are reasonable uses for ALPR. They’re used to read dot and hazmat markings (placards) on trucks for example. This keeps you safe as well as gets products to destinations more efficiently and quickly.
nope. not reasonable. we have dot plac readability for decades with our eyes. you’re attempting to say “alpr notices a hazmat with a 1 dot placard where explosives(1.x) are not allowed and the cops and deep get dispatched”?
that’s been a thing for years. by cops manually patrol monitoring and doing their jobs.
Ahhh. The left version of the radical right.
Whatever dude.
i mean .. i only speak as a person who responds to these incidends and am aware of how the current system works and where it fails.
giving up my freedoms so a corporation can profit does not seem like a healthy way to go about fixing a problem that’s not really a problem. (your hazmat example)
why are you simping for corporations?
It's not simping for corporations when you understand that some automation is very helpful both in efficiencies as well as safety. We're not getting away from diesel anytime soon, no matter what Lemmy believes. So, why wasted it having them idle in a huge line while someone manually does something that can otherwise be done in a fraction of a second? Seriously, don't be so damned naive.
Everything you do and everywhere you go, you're leaving data where, if someone wanted to, they could gather all that up and profile you. You would have to go back to the stone ages for this not to be the case. Technology isn't the issue. Automation isn't the issue. The issue is humans. You tackle this issue by holding them responsible when they do bad things with good technology.