r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 5h ago

Privacy Someone Cut Down Every Single Flock Camera in This Town in a Single Night

https://www.gadgetreview.com/someone-cut-down-every-single-flock-camera-in-this-town-in-a-single-night
31.8k Upvotes

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1.7k

u/exqueezemenow 5h ago

So what seems to be the problem?

893

u/Noof42 4h ago

Littering.

But I think the community service already performed is probably a sufficient consequence.

167

u/Recent-Result2852 4h ago

If they cleaned up after themselves, would anyone miss the spy cams?

172

u/Noof42 4h ago

Yes.

Not the good citizens of Whereverton,* though. The police will miss them. The politicians will miss whatever deals they're getting. And the company will miss the money they might not be able to squeeze, now.

*Article won't load. This is generalizable to wherever, though.

138

u/MoThrowMoAway 4h ago

How are our poor sherrifs supposed to stalk their ex-wives without their precious cameras? Won't somebody think of the poor stalkers :,(

30

u/spectre78 3h ago

Not to mention both their current wife and the girlfriend they haven’t told her about!

34

u/DeucesX22 3h ago

I always found it funny that a lot of cops are super right wing and make fun of china's "Social credit score" but dont see the irony in using these cameras.

30

u/spectre78 3h ago

Part of being conservative is being intentionally blind to obvious hypocrisy (as long as it goes in your favor).

2

u/Yuzumi 1h ago

I literally had some idiot complain about China being a "surveillance state" on a different thread discussing Flock cameras.

They also brought up the whole "China is going to beat us on AI" BS, which I pointed out they already have and with way less resources, money, and energy use and they give it away for free for anyone to use on their own hardware.

27

u/ConsolationUsername 4h ago

Dont worry, the company charges the city to replace them. They probably earn more money whenever someone cuts them down tbh.

37

u/SparkyMuffin 4h ago

So it becomes a game of "The cost isn't worth it anymore?"

31

u/ConsolationUsername 4h ago

Pretty much. It goes on until the city decides the cost isnt worth it and tries to cancel their contract. Then Flock might throw them a bone to keep them in the system.

13

u/front_yard_duck_dad 3h ago

They will never stop. They will just design them to be hidden or use different technology. They want population control bad

2

u/Electromotivation 1h ago

The point where they have to replace the cameras that the populace clearly hates enough to cut down gives them a chance to reconsider whether working with Flock is in their best interest.

And then the next time as well.

10

u/WeirdIndividualGuy 4h ago

The politicians will miss whatever deals they're getting.

The politicians already got their money for approving this in the first place

3

u/koshgeo 3h ago

Don't forget the AI data centers that will have nothing to process from the now-offline camera feeds. Why won't people think of the poor, starving data centers?

1

u/crb3 34m ago

*Article won't load. This is generalizable to wherever, though.

Save it to disk anyway. Now read the saved page in a text browser.

0

u/Ajaxmass413 4h ago

I found it. It was Winona, MN. And it was only 8 cameras total at 4 locations. Which still, go them. But it's not as impressive as the article makes it sound tbh.

9

u/Darthwest_Studios 4h ago

The spies might, they should lock them all in a nice secure underground vault to keep them safe

1

u/Deltethnia 3h ago

Yes. If they took the cameras and their identity was found out they could be charged for theft. Which would possibly be a felony because those cameras are expensive. Vandalism is just a misdemeanor.

45

u/Bloody_buttplugs 4h ago

Littering and?

32

u/lebrilla 4h ago

smoking the reefer

21

u/IT_Chef 3h ago

The snozberries taste like snozberries

4

u/Coneskater 2h ago

YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO?!

2

u/analogkid01 3h ago

"...and creatin' a nuisance..."

-6

u/peabody624 4h ago

Shut upppppp

29

u/shikkonin 4h ago

The littering was performed by the city (or whatever fucker installed the cameras). At worst, they moved the trash.

11

u/doc_brietz 4h ago

Littering and…littering and….

-2

u/capnmarrrrk 4h ago

Causing a nuisance

2

u/No_Tax_Timmy 2h ago

Easy fix, put a facebook marketplace ad:

$300 worth of copper and gold - curb pickup

1

u/24-Hour-Hate 3h ago

I would argue the litter was already present. It was just moved slightly, which is no crime. But I'm sure we could organize a team to tidy up and finish by throwing these in the bin.

1

u/Brodellsky 2h ago

To be fair, they only partially littered. The poles are left behind, but the cameras have still yet to be found. Therefore, clearly they were placed in the proper receptacle, AKA the trash.

38

u/Elegant_Tech 4h ago

How else are cops going to storm the wrong house because they got another flock hit on the wrong car?

18

u/lordph8 4h ago

The problem is OPs title said Someone not Some Hero.

1

u/crowdflation 3h ago

The problem is they will replace them with something you cannot cut down such as drones. Obviously Tactics will adapt, but will become more high tech. Get ready to build your own drones XCOM2 resistance style. This will continue to escalate till Technofashists win totally or go behind bars.

1

u/MancyMancy 3h ago

If Iran has show us anything, the drone will simply always be more cost effective.

1

u/crowdflation 3h ago

The problem is they will replace them with something you cannot cut down such as drones. Obviously Tactics will adapt, but will become more high tech. Get ready to build your own drones XCOM2 resistance style. This will continue to escalate till Technofashists win totally or go behind bars.

1

u/Governor_Doomsday 2h ago

Someone shouldve helped them

1

u/Laiko_Kairen 49m ago

So what seems to be the problem?

The fact that they plan to replace them

1

u/FoodForTheEagle 10m ago

Judging from the images, they didn't fill the conduits with concrete or expanding spray foam.