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I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

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Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#161
post #158

I wrote this. I had/have absolutely no expectation that Flock would comply with my request, but figured I should try anyway For Science. Their reply rubbed me wrong, though. They seem to claim that there are no restrictions on their collection and processing of PII because other people pay them for it. They say: > Flock Safety’s customers own the data and make all decisions around how such data is used and shared. wh…

You might reach out to the California AG. I suspect they are itching for this kind of thing right now.

Because life is weird, my kid played little league baseball against his.

I might have to do that.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the data collected is property of the government and flock is not allowed to use that data for additional business gain (according to their statements)... So they can't sell the fact that you're at Target at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday to anybody... Nor build profiles to sell to advertisers... And if that's the case that's very similar to cloud storage vendors. If I access hacker news, and the record of my visit is sto…

The AWS analogy breaks down because AWS doesn't encourage customers to pool their S3 buckets into a nationwide searchable index. Flock operates a federated network. If you drive past an unmarked camera, you have absolutely no way of knowing which specific HOA or town leased it so how are you realistically supposed to know who the "data controller" is to send your ccpa or deletion request to?

Start standing in front of the cameras looking sketchy long enough till police are sent out to ya, then ask the cop who called.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#163

It's not much worse than all the tracking adtech used by FAANG industry. Smartest people in the world working on these systems.

I'd contend that it absolutely is. Adtech is creepy and invasive and weird. Flock is going a step further and actively tracking our movement through the cities where we live.

I don't like either of those activities, but I think one of them is much worse.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#164
post #20

The only opt-out the citizenry has is with any of the following: 2x4 rebar spraypaint spray foam battery powered metal cutter And bash those pieces of shit to chunks or completely ruin the lens and solar. Republican community? They love corporate surveillance. Democrat community? They too love corporate surveillance. There is no "Peoples' Party" that rejects this garbage.

https://www.techspot.com/news/108045-lidar-great-cars-but-ca... It would be a pity if someone made dense point clouds of these devices.

One could start doing tours of their city to show tourists where each and every camera is. They're kinda small though, it might be worth a strong laser pointer so you can direct their attention to the cameras easily...

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#165
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the data collected is property of the government and flock is not allowed to use that data for additional business gain (according to their statements)... So they can't sell the fact that you're at Target at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday to anybody... Nor build profiles to sell to advertisers... And if that's the case that's very similar to cloud storage vendors. If I access hacker news, and the record of my visit is sto…

I don’t care. I don’t care who owns the data. If I can’t easily get private information like my movements removed from a database like this, the legislation does not sufficiently protect me. It should absolutely be Flock’s responsibility to remove my data and we should absolutely require it by law. Full stop.

The law cares about lots of things we don't care about.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#166

I wrote this. I had/have absolutely no expectation that Flock would comply with my request, but figured I should try anyway For Science. Their reply rubbed me wrong, though. They seem to claim that there are no restrictions on their collection and processing of PII because other people pay them for it. They say: > Flock Safety’s customers own the data and make all decisions around how such data is used and shared. wh…

[deleted]

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I see a flash on a speed camera operated by a business on behalf of a police department, your argument states I should be able to use CCPA to force the business to delete my picture and the record of me speeding If I can get the request to them before the police can file with the court and request that data as evidence. Sounds reasonable to me. If the police want to put up a camera, then the police should put up…

"Hey private prison please delete all data you have about me. And by the way, I'm locked up here by accident. Please release me."

Honestly private prisons are a farce anyways, so yeah this seems valid to me. The government doesn't get to get out of its obligations to citizens by outsourcing to third parties, and third parties don't get to wield government-level authority without government-level accountability.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#168

It's not much worse than all the tracking adtech used by FAANG industry. Smartest people in the world working on these systems.

I'd contend that it absolutely is. Adtech is creepy and invasive and weird. Flock is going a step further and actively tracking our movement through the cities where we live. I don't like either of those activities, but I think one of them is much worse.

One is making implicit assumptions based on data available to it. The other is literally saying "hey they're right here at this time". At least adtech has _some_ level of obfuscation to it.

But I'm with you both suck.

Re: I wrote to Flock's privacy contact to opt out of their domestic spying program

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't be so sure. In this specific case, they told me to ask their customers to comply with my CCPA rights. Without that information, it's impossible for me to exercise those rights. IANAL, but that sounds like a pursuable path.

I don't see any provision in CCPA that requires that. And outside of an explicit requirement to do so, nobody is required to help you. Edit: from https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa > If a service provider has said that it does not or cannot act on your request because it is a service provider, you may follow up to ask who the business is. However, sometimes the service provider will not be able to provide that informati…

Perhaps the next step is writing to your state representative, or to Alastair Mactaggart, and complain about this hole in the legislation.
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