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Federal judge calls Flock 'indiscriminate mass surveillance'

483 points · 267 comments · sbulaev

  1. JKCalhoun · · focus · HN ↗
    License plate reader?

    So the device should require very specific license plates to scan for—not the current dragnet. The software should only "ping" when there is a confident match with said license plate(s)—and merely log which license plate, time stamp a single photo, and note the confidence level of it being a match.

    The frame buffer should be the only place (a frame of) video is ever stored at all (excepting the high-confidence match indicated above).

    The only issue remaining would be whether we trust the device/software to have complied (and not have a backdoor) and of course there needs to be a legal warrant for every license plate uploaded (and it should expire fairly frequently, likely requiring a new warrant to continue canning for the plate).

    1. jamesjhare · · focus · HN ↗
      the legal standard is based off of the idea that a police officer could easily sit in a fixed location and take down license plate numbers that pass by

      that and you don't have any legitimate expectation of privacy while in public because you are in public

      the really strange part is the folks that are angry about flock cameras are often the same people who are angry that folks like elon musk want the movements of the private jets to be non-public information

      i can get around my community without worrying one bit about flock cameras surveilling me. the bike trails i use generally don't have cameras and even if they did i'm riding a fairly generic bike and wearing neutral and unmemorable clothing.

      even with actual dragnet surveillance in NYC they couldn't track a dude on a bike effectively.

      1. JumpCrisscross · · focus · HN ↗
        > a police officer could easily sit in a fixed location and take down license plate numbers that pass by

        Not on a busy road. And not while identifying the faces of the drivers.

        1. Barbing · · focus · HN ↗
          Nor the dents and identifying marks, effectively. Nor within a realistic budget (24/7 * average officer hourly rate * # of Flocks nationwide + time spent sharing with desired other jurisdictions + cost to analyze).

          Point driven in by fellow commenters this year: scale matters!

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