this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2026
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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Or is this like some government cameras that are in public spaces filming ?

It's a nationwide network of cameras used by federal, state, and local governments to track and profile people in public. It doesn't just record, but builds a database of information on every car, license plate, and person that's filmed, so it's seen to be very dystopian.

Even worse, the tech gets it wrong and mistaken identity is common, and it ends up endangering people due to the violent methods US police employ. However, it's privacy concerns that are foremost, because there's an amendment in our country's Constitution that should prohibit this kind of privacy violation.

If you'd like to learn more, I made a YT video on the topic recently.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (3 children)

don't forget how many of them are just straight up creep cameras, installed pointing at childrens pools, playgrounds, peoples homes, etc.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's a revenue stream for Flock. Allowing members of the Epstein Class to view the stream of children.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

explains the millions of hits per month on the cameras.

And this is why calling them “license plate readers” is hugely disingenuous, to the point of being straight up propaganda. The term vastly downplays what they can do. They don’t just scan license plates. They scan nearby devices’ Bluetooth and WiFi signals. They scan faces. They scan gait to determine specific limb proportions. They scan tattoos and birthmarks. They scan bumper stickers, dings/dents, etc… If you walk in front of a camera, it will use every trick in the book to try and figure out who you are specifically.

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Safety+Creep or Liberty?

[–] Pixel_Jock_17@piefed.ca 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Wild stuff. That is far worse than I thought was going on.

What a scary timeline and I hope the country and sort out this stuff and reform this type activity.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They're not just cameras. They also log nearby mobile devices. They've gone from a few hundred nationwide to over 100,000 in like 2 years.

[–] GalacticRobot@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Uber is going to start implementing the same thing, so mobile Flock that you wouldn't be able to take down.

[–] njordomir@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Someone could deploy devices that clone signals they hear and replay them at random to poison all the data. But they definitely should not do that.