Live data from Hacker News

Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

haveibeenflocked.com

101–110 of 251 posts

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#101
post #92
post #59

Since the page is currently down and I have no idea what flocked means in the context of license plates, can I assume this is US specific?

ANPR cameras which the rest of the world (and apparently America) have had for decades have recently become big news in America, I believe because they're now being used for immigration purposes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number-plate_recogni... I'm not sure why these are so bad but generally everyone loves things like Ring cameras which do the same thing but with people rather than vehicles. I suspect…

I think it's mostly just a privacy issue. The idea that your every movement is being recorded by the government is Orwellian, especially when they try to hide its existence, lie about its capabilities, and you have no say in the matter (referencing NSA metadata monitoring). The average person thinks their ring camera is like their coffee maker, an individual piece of technology they own and control. If it were released that everyone's ring cameras were being fed into some NSA program running facial recognition to track citizens movement I'm sure they would be upset about that too.

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#104
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ANPR cameras which the rest of the world (and apparently America) have had for decades have recently become big news in America, I believe because they're now being used for immigration purposes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number-plate_recogni... I'm not sure why these are so bad but generally everyone loves things like Ring cameras which do the same thing but with people rather than vehicles. I suspect…

It’s trivial for law enforcement to track your movement with ALPR cameras. Information feeds into a single database, paid for by law enforcement agencies, and they just connect the dots. Ring camera footage requires law enforcement to get a warrant or for individuals to give consent to supply the footage. Now tell me which system makes it easier for a cop to stalk their ex.

This comment went right off a cliff at the end...

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#105
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, and so what? You can look up people on Accurint without license plates. Depending on what kind of account you have, you can just search by a zip code, or a state with no further identifiers. What would be the point of running a website collecting the license plate numbers of random visitors?

You need to think more evil! Lets brainstorm! Theres a parking lot... what are the 10 wealthiest car owners...and the 10 frailest oldest people... or maybe the 20 women aged 19-25 blond under 150 pounds... and when do they get off work tired, drive home each day? What's the most isolated gas station,convenience store they stop at? Ones where few other cars pass by? Who's homes don't show a 2nd car in driveway? Owned…

Oh no, I can think very evil. I just don't see what kind of evil thinking would arrive at "Hey lets use this website to collect IP address/license plate pairs at a small scale"

That just doesn't strike me as a very efficient way of doing evil.

You can just go on accurint and find the oldest people living alone in the richest neighbourhoods near you. You can even fairly reliably find out whether or not they have living relatives.

All this deeply sensitive data is already readily available. I don't think IP+license plate data would be particularly interesting unless you're Google and able to gather that at an absolutely massive scale. But even then, you'd be using it for extremely boring kinds of evil.

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#106
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s trivial for law enforcement to track your movement with ALPR cameras. Information feeds into a single database, paid for by law enforcement agencies, and they just connect the dots. Ring camera footage requires law enforcement to get a warrant or for individuals to give consent to supply the footage. Now tell me which system makes it easier for a cop to stalk their ex.

This comment went right off a cliff at the end...

Why do you think so?

LOVEINT is indeed a thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOVEINT

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#107
post #85
post #2

I love these kinds of sites, since they're indistinguishable from honeypots. Sure, have my license plate and the information that I'm worried about being watched.

Reminds me of the (legit) form to claim compensation for a privacy leak. Put in your name, address, phone number, dob, ssn and bank details - we will post you a cheque for $2.50

100% always feels like a trap.

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#108

Oh no my super secret license plate! definitely something that is normally hidden instead of being on the front and back of my car for anyone to see and photo.

Sure, but now there's a highly vulnerable network of cameras that reports wherever you pass to everyone way beyond the few people that saw you go around.

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#109
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They de facto are because they only place cameras in public places and on public land by contract with the government in one form or another; be it with a treasonous sheriff or a treasonous state executive and legislature. The public would not be talking about Flock if they had not worked to create a treasonous surveillance state and instead only did things like monitored truck movements in a logistics depot. The pri…

but thry're not literally the government and the relevant laws only affect the literal government.

No, there is legal precedent that private companies who perform government services are subject to the same laws.

Re: Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watched

#110
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ANPR cameras which the rest of the world (and apparently America) have had for decades have recently become big news in America, I believe because they're now being used for immigration purposes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number-plate_recogni... I'm not sure why these are so bad but generally everyone loves things like Ring cameras which do the same thing but with people rather than vehicles. I suspect…

It’s trivial for law enforcement to track your movement with ALPR cameras. Information feeds into a single database, paid for by law enforcement agencies, and they just connect the dots. Ring camera footage requires law enforcement to get a warrant or for individuals to give consent to supply the footage. Now tell me which system makes it easier for a cop to stalk their ex.

All this is assuming one travels exclusively by car. Bikes, public transport, or walking are not as easy to track using this system.

Then again, these modes of transport are less popular in the US; I guess such a surveillance system is extra effective in the US because of that.

Post reply on HN