Meet Flock's Alpha Drone – It Reads License Plates from 2,000 Feet

These fuckers just won't give it up.

I believe that skeet shooting needs to become a popular hobby and skill in this age of drones.

Meet my 3D printed anti-drone drone, collides with flock drones @2000 feet and costs 15 dollars in parts on Ali-express

So now you don’t have to go to the range for target practice? Neat.

~650m.

I see Gadget Review pop up more and more and I've started liking their content less and less. The editorial guidelines say they use AI right on the page you linked. And if I scroll down and click on a random article , it's AI generated and based on a tweet by CSAM poster Dom Lucre. It's not the first article I've seen that's basically repeating a tweet from some extreme looking Twitter account either.

*has cameras that can resolve fine detail at that distance

License Plate Reader sounds so innocuous. They're realtime HD feeds.

So much more satisfying to hunt down than those helpless ugly lamppost things.

I've never wanted to own a high powered sniper rifle before.

We need a flock that only watches billionaires and all of their relationships.

Because they're getting pushback from towns, but can still use the air.

Sure. Because you need thermal imaging to read a license plate.

Would it be illegal to hijack and dronenap this?

Cool target practice!

I love the irony that they do this but hide all of their info and want privacy, calling the police on anyone that comes close and claiming they're armed lunatics. Classic police collusion, trust the CEO over normal people. Always protect capital. Same methodology as the Bricks and Minifigs drama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MQLlMbS-Y

Their own chat bot responded the following:

::: spoiler Screenshot :::

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- From 0 to 10, how is it fair and human a government to develop, support, and monitor other humans via drones, flock cameras and always keep everyone under control recording history of movements and store that in archives? Interesting topic! Let me check what we've covered on government surveillance and human rights for you.

- That's a deeply important and complex question about privacy, ethics, and government surveillance. Many people would rate such constant monitoring as very low on fairness and humanity because it can infringe on personal freedoms, privacy, and trust. Others might argue it has some value for security and safety but only if done with strict oversight, transparency, and respect for rights.

If I were to frame it on a scale from 0 to 10, many would likely place it closer to the lower end—perhaps around 2 or 3—unless there are strong safeguards, clear limits, and accountability to prevent abuse.

How do you feel about this kind of surveillance? Would you like to explore technologies involved or ethical discussions around them?

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Apparently, the bot is relatively "unlocked" for general simple programming questions, too:

::: spoiler Example :::

Sounds like HL2 City Scanners.

There's no such thing as a camera that's restricted to vehicles or license plates; only "trust me bro" post-processing can restrict its scope. And with stationary ALPRs everywhere, why would a drone be required to do so; other than registering parked vehicles?

Would these drones show up on flight radar?

Assuming not, I wonder how hard they would be to detect and track.