this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2026
182 points (100.0% liked)

privacy

10836 readers
499 users here now

Big tech and governments are monitoring and recording your eating activities. c/Privacy provides tips and tricks to protect your privacy against global surveillance.

Partners:

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
Kokomheart@lemmy.ca
QuentinCallaghan@sopuli.xyz
altair222@beehaw.org
182
City removes unauthorized 'Flock' license plate reader camera (kutv.com)
submitted 1 week ago by verily@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/privacy@lemmy.ca
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 57 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Good on them for, you know, protecting their citizens' privacy, but at the same time, like, when the city tells you, hey, what is this doing here and you just don't answer, I feel like that's when it escalates to a legal issue.

Like, there are crimes being committed.

Corporations are not allowed to unilaterally spy on civilians without some sort of authorization and approval, right?

Surely there's some sort of way that this could actually be escalated to a crime that the company has committed and has to answer for, right?

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In corporate America, business spies on you!

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

But, as compared to an app, or something else where you're getting a benefit out of it, you have to actually agree to the terms and services. Like, flock is just telling everyone to go fuck themselves. I feel like it should be pretty simple to do something about that.

[–] PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au 3 points 1 week ago

Simple? Yes.

Easy? If you've got enough range time!

[–] spinne@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 week ago

I genuinely don't know. We have such a permissive, business-first-and-nothing-else-matters approach right now that we're literally forcing the public to alpha and beta test products that can (and already have) killed people. Nobody gave consent to participate in in testing Tesla's shitty autopilot. Nobody consented to getting dangerous advice on mixing bleach and ammonia to make a cheap and effective household cleaner from an LLM, or seeing how much interaction with one it takes to drive people to suicide. Nobody consented to having cloud-seeding substances released into the air above their homes, but we're allowing that, too.

Push the product out to the masses, what better testing pool can we ask for? It's so invasive and should be illegal, but there's more money to be made in allowing it to happen. After all, how else is America supposed to innovate quickly?

[–] Iampossiblyatwork@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We need a counter surveillance company that only tracks license plates for people with a networth over 10 Mil. Since we’re just putting up cameras wherever we want now.

[–] PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Pay me and I'll start putting esp32's with cameras in a mesh network on sunset blvd. A bulk order of hardware, solder, etc. Plus cold drinks and tacos while I work.

A hard drive hooked up to pi5 w/ SATA hat to log and crunch.

[–] Iampossiblyatwork@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I feel like we could crowd fund this easily.

[–] PRIMEcavitationfetishist@quokk.au 3 points 1 week ago

Yeah, but you need a gun and major investor/employee's address. Only way it stops.

[–] supersquirrel@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 week ago

All Flock Cameras are unauthorized! The idea that people want them by majority is absurd to me, people hate them.

[–] urushitan@kakera.kintsugi.moe 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

2News reached out to Flock Safety to ask who authorized the installation of the camera in question. The company has not responded.

And yet, if a police department wants to track a car across the country without the owner’s knowledge they just need to click a couple times

[–] verily@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago

Click a couple times and type "." into the Reason field, and away they go!

They are now authorized to stalk anyone.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 19 points 1 week ago (2 children)

If I (gambled and) won the lottery I would buy flock cameras and pay people who lived next to police/municipal buildings to put them up on private property. Paint them neon pink with the words PIG PATROL down the side.

[–] motionofethre@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

and next to city council members homes

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Finding suitable private property would probably be easier next to their houses... true.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago

That's funny. I hope you win.

[–] bitteroldcoot@piefed.social 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Pretty much par for the course. In the retirement community where i live amazon delivery trucks keep smashing gates and driving up on lawns. Amazon won’t even respond to local government messages and definitely isn’t paying for the damage without a court battle.

[–] deliriousdreams@fedia.io 1 points 1 week ago

Wild that it happened once, let alone multiple times, especially with all the cameras in those things.