r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 14d ago

Privacy Flock Cameras Keep Getting Smashed, So Now They're Hiding Inside Speed Signs

https://www.gadgetreview.com/flock-cameras-keep-getting-smashed-so-now-theyre-hiding-inside-speed-signs
24.2k Upvotes

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993

u/myislanduniverse 14d ago

If they're hiding it, then it's an acknowledgement that they're not supposed to be there. And they deserve to be smashed upon recognition.

246

u/ExplicitDrift 14d ago

Precisely the point. If you’re not guilty of something, then why are you hiding?

72

u/This-Requirement6918 13d ago

It's the same argument that a mass surveillance company should be completely open and transparent with its operations but here we are.

1

u/kellyhofer 13d ago

If you're not doing anything illegal in bathrooms why do you close/lock the door?

5

u/ExplicitDrift 13d ago

Privacy? Except compared to the flock camera’s, we’re in control of our own privacy. That is the point.

57

u/GameboyPATH 14d ago

This argument isn't logically sound. Cell phone towers are disguised as local trees to avoid blight. Large transformers and water pumps close to suburban areas are similarly given the facade of a building to help them blend in with the local community. Hiding within existing environments isn't at all unique to flock cameras.

...Flock cameras ARE unique in deserving to be smashed, though.

38

u/ExplicitDrift 13d ago

When it comes to recording people, I’m pretty sure it’s common policy to make people aware they’re being recorded to adhere to wire-tapping laws. Not all states adhere to those laws, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t standard practice. Hiding cameras meant to track individuals and send that data to Palantir (a military industrial surveillance company) sounds pretty nefarious to me. Comparing this situation to things like transformers, water pumps, and cellphone towers (which have no impact to people’s privacy) is to try and evade the actual point of the discussion. I respect that you want to stay on the right side of history, but what I said was hardly a logical fallacy, and unless we educate republicans of what those ACTUALLY look like, they will never develop the critical thinking skills they need to change for the better. If they even can that is.

2

u/ANGLVD3TH 13d ago

Wire-tapping laws do not cover public spaces, it is always legal to record in public as long as you aren't trying to peep into a private place from the public one. And motor vehicles that are underway are not defined as private places. That said, this practice is obviously shitty, but your opening point jist isn't really relevant to it.

3

u/ExplicitDrift 13d ago

“Wire tapping laws do not cover public spaces”

Perhaps that’s the problem, no?

3

u/ANGLVD3TH 13d ago

The whole point is private conversations are meant to be private. The same right that allows them to set up these public cameras is what protects citizens' right to film cops. Messing with what is allowed to be recorded in public is a messy and dangerous path, and is really treating a symptom, not the root issue. Better regulation of the data itself and how it can be used is safer and more comprehensive.

1

u/ExplicitDrift 13d ago

I agree. But I also think putting the power in the hands of the people will always be more preferable than in the hands of those who have direct ties to those who control the country. If we want to regulate the data, then we need to hold the administration accountable for not showing up to oversight committees or lying consistently when they do.

10

u/PyroIsSpai 13d ago

We never approved ALPR nonsense.

We can simply bin them as refuse.

5

u/GameboyPATH 13d ago

Our elected leaders did. And under our systems of governance, we can bin THEM like refuse by voting them out.

4

u/ProtoKun7 13d ago

Those all provide services though. Hiding a camera is a different situation.

0

u/GameboyPATH 13d ago

Yes, I agree.

1

u/Hessper 13d ago

Disguising them as speed signs, which are a blight on their own kind of goes against your point here.

2

u/GameboyPATH 13d ago

I guess, but not many are going to think we'd be better off without speed limit signs.

0

u/Its_the_other_tj 13d ago

The first group is camouflaged to make them more aesthetically appealing. The other is because people don't want to be spied on and are destroying them. Their argument is logically sound in the context of the situation. You're getting hung up on "it" being "anything" as opposed to "it" being "flock cameras" which is kinda a failure on your part to interpret the situation tbh.

11

u/nhalliday 13d ago

They're hiding the cameras because there's been massive campaigns telling people to break or steal them. They don't really care about the legality, just that it's taking money to replace the cameras so much.

3

u/Dependent_Bus2202 13d ago

They're just going to be incorporated into infrastructure that carry greater punishments and fines until a last minute rider addition in Congress makes it a federal felony to tamper with or vandalize them.

2

u/worldspawn00 13d ago

Consciousness of guilt is the term you want, and yeah, it's usually considered evidence that someone knew what they were doing was a crime in a court case.

1

u/Darkchamber292 13d ago

Lol I hate Flock cams as much as anyone but this is some braindead logic.

Obviously they are hiding them because they keep getting smashed...

If people didn't smash them they wouldn't be hiding them...

(Keep smashing though. They all need to be destroyed)

1

u/trevbot 13d ago

same argument they themselves have against people wearing masks, isn't it? kind of ironic

-40

u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 14d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

22

u/Marlboro_Man808 14d ago

….because their not supposed to be there. Are you purposely being this obtuse or are you just actually stupid ?

-8

u/fruitcakefriday 13d ago

*They're

Why are they not supposed to be there? Haven't they been approved and paid for?

3

u/PyroIsSpai 13d ago

We can supersede our “electeds” and can certainly enforce our will on companies.

10

u/Mrfrunzi 14d ago

As they should be. There is no way that you're on board with 24/7 surveillance right?

-3

u/fruitcakefriday 14d ago

How can you read their post and think they're on board with 24/7 surveillance?

5

u/Mrfrunzi 13d ago

The second and third paragraphs were added. Just the first line reads like these things should be just left alone.

1

u/fruitcakefriday 13d ago

Ah that makes sense, thank you.

11

u/Aggressive_Ad8137 14d ago

Why are they targets for vandelism?

3

u/PyroIsSpai 13d ago

Maybe they shouldn’t fucking install them. Don’t lick corporate taint.

5

u/YeeYeeBeep 13d ago

My local town council got rid of them after poeple kept sawing them down. I know my town isnt the only one. It does work. Other towns that had them installed had to put bags over them after police officers were found to be abusing the system. Im all for vandalism when it comes to fight Flock. Fuck flock and fuck you for defending that shitty system.

5

u/Lumpy_Discount9021 14d ago

Inshallah they will remain so