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Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

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31–40 of 297 posts

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#31
man, these guys bungled their PR so, so hard. What they should have done is pre-seeded a ton of stories about flock catching some notorious criminal, helping solve xyz serious crimes, helping solve abc minor nuisance issue crimes, and maybe some lines about reducing direct law enforcement interactions.

On the flip side, let Axon, Motorola take some of the heat, paint your enemies as "defund the police", and stop being so obviously branded. Take a page out of Phillip Morris/Altria playbook and keep a lower profile.

Instead, they've managed to unite left and right in hatred. Clown show.

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#33
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flock was seed round funded by YC, not "a YC company". It's not like they control it, manage it, and what was pitched may be significantly different than what happened since then. YC isn't perfect, but what words you use, and their order is important. And the way you're phrasing it, you make it sound as if they are a subsidiary of YC. Or as if YC is on the board. If any of these things are true, you should plainly st…

If the they didn't pitch the massive surveillance and data capturing aspects they wouldn’t have got the funding.

Blantantly making stuff up is a bad look, they were founded as an HOA (private neighborhood) security service.

>Flock’s camera and accompanying software is geared towards private neighborhoods and neighborhood associations looking to decrease petty crime.[1]

[1]https://www.hypepotamus.com/flock-safety-funding-round-growt...

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#34
post #21

Random people calling 911 on other people filming them is a staple of Youtube; banks, coffee store workers, hairdressers, most especially restaurant managers. I don't know why anyone would expect technicians from Flock to be different. It's worse for the technician in this case, because he really was being followed --- that's not unlawful but it's unnerving. You'd think from the response that this was like the VP/Sal…

Especially when chances are that this camera installation was the result of local government asking and paying Flock to put it up. I'm not sure why the anger is directed at the company instead of local elected officials, and I understand the plight of the installer who's worried about being labeled as a bad guy for executing public works contracts.

Well, politicians are to pay for the fact they have allowed something like Flock cameras to be put up and spy to egregiously on their constituents.

But Flock itself should not be spared . They are building things that are going against widely accepted values.

Since when Americans are okay with that level of erosion of their privacy?

Same thing with Meta building pervert glasses.

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#35
Flock has solved crimes in my state, including a few horrendous violent crimes.

We forget US society was configured (imperfectly) to allow families to raise their children in stability and safety, with guardrails around both sides of liberty. Surveillance has a legit role in protecting communities and their families - especially the most vulnerable.

Willing to be most of the Flock hate crowd doesn't have kids walking to school in areas where bad things happen - many probably don't have kids.

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#36
post #19

[dead]

Flock was seed round funded by YC, not "a YC company". It's not like they control it, manage it, and what was pitched may be significantly different than what happened since then. YC isn't perfect, but what words you use, and their order is important. And the way you're phrasing it, you make it sound as if they are a subsidiary of YC. Or as if YC is on the board. If any of these things are true, you should plainly st…

YC funds companies and we are all aware of that so by saying it's a YC company because they gave them seed money is already exactly the correct wording

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#39
post #21

Random people calling 911 on other people filming them is a staple of Youtube; banks, coffee store workers, hairdressers, most especially restaurant managers. I don't know why anyone would expect technicians from Flock to be different. It's worse for the technician in this case, because he really was being followed --- that's not unlawful but it's unnerving. You'd think from the response that this was like the VP/Sal…

The response is stronger because your hairdressers and baristas aren't actively providing a service for surveillance as part of their work. The bar should be higher for a company that's ostensibly being trusted to provide a law enforcement tool that's prone to misuse than for providing beverages or cosmetology.

Re: Flock worker calls police on reporter filming public camera installation

#40

>The officer said the installer was also concerned about privacy. "And his worry more than anything is that, you know, he's just an employee. Anybody like you and me. And now he's going to be in the news and he doesn't know if it's going to be targeted at him or his family." Don’t you understand? He was just following orders.

Totally wild that someone installing a surveillance camera is "concerned about privacy." Only his privacy is important I guess.
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