Transcription
Have Americans finally had it with this mass surveillance system? That is a Flock Safety Camera. It's an artificial intelligence automated license plate reader. I've reported on Flock before, and if there's one thing people in the comments can agree on, it's their hatred of this.
That's because at least 90,000 Flock cameras across 6,000 communities read over 20 billion plates per month. All that information then gets uploaded into a giant shared database, which can be accessed by law enforcement and government agencies. And no surprise, this raises a slew of issues.
Like one Ohio man pulled over, accused of stolen plates, attacked by police dogs, and jailed because Flock read the seven on his plates as a two. Or the Colorado woman accused of stealing a package and treated as guilty until proven innocent because Flock caught her driving 20 times in one month. Then there's the Arkansas couple that had a Flock camera pointed right at their house, putting them and their guests under constant warrantless surveillance. And not to perpetuate stereotypes, but multiple cops and police chiefs have accessed Flock hundreds of times to stalk their exes and current partners.
But don't worry, you can stop people, too, because Flock cameras are hackable in under 30 seconds. They can be turned into a personal spy device, run on an Android operating system discontinued in 2021, and didn't even have two-factor authentication until it recently came out that they didn't. YouTuber Ben Jordan even found 51 vulnerabilities with Flock and said accessing them is so easy 12-year-olds could do it.
We don't condone the destruction of Flock cameras, but we're also not surprised the public has reached their boiling point. One Virginia man now faces 19 felonies and six misdemeanors for destroying 13 cameras over 6 months. In Michigan, police used Flock to catch this guy who caused about 10 grand in damage to cameras. An Oregon vandal, slash patriots, depending who you ask, cut down nine Flock cameras, leaving some with colorfully worded stickers. Flock cameras in California, Connecticut, and Illinois have also been destroyed.
So, did Americans take notes from Britain's Blade Runners?