A mass 'de-flock' campaign is planned for Halloween, allowing masked people who may wish to remove flock cameras to blend in with the crowd.
https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/flock-camera-controversy-explained-as-viral-halloween-de-flock-campaign-gains-momentum-3399710/
394 points · 44 comments · view on lemmy.world
44 Comments
ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net · 77 pts · 3d
totally unrelated reminder that it's possible to find and catalog flock cameras that are in your local area at https://deflock.org/
And I imagine that anyone who did plan to partake in this would leave their phone at home so they cannot be associated with being in that area.
It's also possible they may use a spray paint can extender stick to reach the camera lenses, or cut through the aluminum polls with either a portable battery powered angle grinder or reciprocating saw, bought with cash.
queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone · 16 pts · 3d
Something else unrelated: You can buy spray foam insulation at any hardware store. It expands and sets relatively quickly, and can be used to block light as well as heat and sound. They make sprayers with long hoses too, if you're looking to insulate some hard-to-reach areas.
sketchyenchantment@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 3d
Important to know how broad and generic there queries can been when police (or whomever) searches the Flock database as shown in these reports https://haveibeenflocked.com/
ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net · 24 pts · 3d
Personally I'd be a bit cautious about putting in your own license plate number there. I can't find any immediate red flags, but it just seems like good opsec to not potentially expose your own plate if they're not being honest about not storing queries.
If anyone else knows more about how legit the group running that site is, feel free to chime in. They are funded by The Alternative Newsweekly Foundation, who are members of the Association of Alternative News Media, but I don't know much about either, and the wiki entry for it is pretty sparse.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 2d
They're not.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 3d
I wonder if a simple pipe cutter would actually work and be extremely quiet. I mean, I have no idea because they don't even exist here but you can cut through pretty thick steel pipe with a pipe cutter pretty quick. Seems like a big pipe cutter might do the job too. But I have no idea and no way to find out, so take my curiosity for what it's worth.
Salvo@aussie.zone · 5 pts · 2d
The aluminium poles and commodity electronics are useful for makers.
EWaste should be disposed of in an environmental safe way.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 2d
For someone planning to partake in those events, I would suspect they would opt to leave the stuff on the street so there is no chance of them being linked to it through physical means.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 2d
I'd advise a lead container and wondering how long the battery lasts.
greatwhitebuffalo41@slrpnk.net · 37 pts · 2d
Just a reminder if you're doing this not to have your phone, smart watch, car or anything electronic with you just in case the flock you're going for has the fancy shit that picks all that up.
Zirconium@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 2d
You cant even have an airpod or credit card
jaxhax@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 2d
Flocks aren't reported to have any capability to track wifi/Bluetooth. Leonardo cameras are though. As always, best to leave your phone off, in a faraday bag or at home when doing illegal things. Reading your CC data over nfc is just silly. Even if it had the hardware equipped you'd have to be up on the pole dry humping the thing for it to power the chip through your pocket.
I advocate for fighting state surveillance, but let's not get carried away with hyperbole or we end up sounding like the "5g lets bill gates lobotomize you remotely" crowd.
kuhli@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 2d
That's true, but there are also Bluetooth scanners that could be used to prove someone's in a nearby location
dylanTheDeveloper@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 2d
Wait these things can read EMV Chips at distance!?
0x0@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 2d
I'm going out on an ignorant limb and assume contactless cards work by closing an induction circuit, so i assume you'd have to be really close to the camera to be detected.
Depending on how you... er... stumble into the camera that might be a risk.
degen@midwest.social · 5 pts · 2d
No hip thrusts, got it
cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1d
They only work at close proximity by design so that people can't steal your info.
cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1d
Credit cards have rfid which requires very close proximity. Even if they did have rfid capabilities (which is highly unlikely) there's no way they could get a scan of your card. CCs don't broadcast, they are only passive at close proximities, which is by design.
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 2d
Or bring your pet
degen@midwest.social · 2 pts · 2d
Pretty sure they make ski masks or at least costumes for dogs, but you probably mean tracking chips, eh?
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 2d
Apparently yeah, some systems can read them somehow.
N0t_5ure@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 3d
The night of the long spray-paint can....
IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com · 20 pts · 3d
They don't respect us. Yet we still fund their ability to own us. We don't need everything this lifestyle offers us. We should be practicing living without so we don't need to depend on them for anything more than the basics. Learn to prioritize finding enjoyment in whats natural and free, not what's marketed.
The rise of data centers probably isn't solely for consumer grade ai like chatgpt. FEDs already have deals and use current datacenters. Look at the timing of ICE and immigration drama. Look at the bill that is looking to allow ICE to police shoplifting. Notice the insane funding boost ICE got. I don't this is coincidence. Life and authentic humanity is on the line. And don't get it twisted left right or center dependency will lead to the same outcomes.
minorkeys@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 3d
They are keenly aware of our needs and do everything they can to control means of production of those things to use as leverage over us. Its an endless war between us, who want freedom to live, and them, who use our fundamental desire to exist as means of making our lives serve their ambitions. We're always being enslaved. You can debate the niceness of the cage across time and place, but none of us are free of the relentless attempts to *re-*enslave us.
RFKJrsBrainworm@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 2d
Oh they definitely want to lock up people and put them to work, enslave us... Debtor prisons will be back soon and they'll charge the cost of imprisonment to the debtor.
cmbabul@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 2d
And for those that somehow avoid getting directly imprisoned for "crimes" there'll be company towns waiting for you!
RFKJrsBrainworm@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1d
It's kinda fucking terrifying when you think about how much thought and effort has been put into undermining the 14th amendment...I guess the ends justify the means if you're dumb enough to think you're going to be a slave owner in the future.
Instead you're going to be a slave of geocorp (I think...but private prison) with a government contract to keep the indebted in debt to the prison and their debt.
HubertManne@piefed.social · 12 pts · 3d
I mean its just a fact of holloween but I may wear a costume all day that has a mask.
Zachariah@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 3d
HubertManne@piefed.social · 4 pts · 3d
as much as this is a joke I wore one of those monocle full face sunglasses and it ended up being really nice. keeps wind off your face in cold weather and helps your eye glasses not fog up and besides keeping the sun from blinding you keeps uv off your face which you normally have to use sunscreen. with one of those and decent uv blocking clothing you don't need sunscreen. or at least I don't and they used to joke that I would get sunburn from the xmass tree lights.
Danarchy@lemmy.nz · 11 pts · 3d
I have it on good authority that most of the people attacking flocks cams are actually cops who secretly hate flock and also want to make it look like crime is up plus they know how to get away with it so anyway they really need to look into this starting with the cop department
dylanTheDeveloper@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2d
SlippiHUD@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 2d
Whoosh what was that?
amikulo@slrpnk.net · 8 pts · 2d
Obviously no one here is going to damage property. But it's not a crime to add noise to the signal by walking around masked up with a backpack.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 2d
And a paintball gun inside the backpack.
Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 2d
I've heard those cameras can see through some masks, so... careful out there.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 2d
You can't seriously be talking about x-ray cameras so i guess you mean crappy masks, right? Right?
Jyek@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 2d
Near-Infrared cameras can see through many thin fabrics and some other materials. If you wear a good enough mask, it shouldn't be a concern. But most cheap Halloween costumes are made of the exact materials that can be seen through, which is a whole other concern. I had to demonstrate how easy it is to see through some clothes with the right (easily accessible) equipment for my mom to force my little siblings to wear full proper clothing under Halloween costumes. (I'm much older than the youngest kids in my family.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1d
Got it. TIL, thanks.
flandish@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2d
anyone else see this as just “training data challenges” for flock? it won’t help us working class people, and will give them tons more opportunities to practice and train workflows/models.
we need to deflock the corporation not the cameras.
TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 2d
Both is fine. Praxis takes many forms
flandish@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
i agree. just not excited abt the future is all. i reckon like most ppl.
TheparishofChigwell@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1d
Why not? California its own nation, Canada part of the EU, millions of bad actors left out and slowly withering away.. sounds pretty good.
End of an era
activistPnk@slrpnk.net · -2 pts · 1d
Fuck surveillance. But OTOH, #fuckcars too. If these flock cams are really just to snoop on cars, that’s bad-on-bad as far as I’m concerned.
From the article:
So cyclists are not being snooped on, correct?
Hard to trust their words. But the first time they use facial rec info in court the lie will be blown.
ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 1d
Flock has been proven to lie repeatedly already. The cameras are being used by police officer to stalk their ex's (plus over 100 other cases of cops abusing it), as well as used for thin justification to detain and illegally search people. They are also being used to track women getting abortions out of state, as well as activists.
Benn Jordan also exposed that Flock cameras have virtually no security, allowing anyone to log into a camera via wifi and alter footage/evidence, download what its recorded, etc. They also proved that Flock cameras will track individual people walking around, such as in parks where some are installed.
They are unlikely to have any effect on people driving less, and instead are being used to further the goals of the fascist state.