Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#161

Post by jacquesm » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:31 PM UTC

KittenInABox wrote: post #80

Waterluvian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not ideal, but it is necessary when the higher-desirability options are not working. What has worried me for years is that Americans would not resort to this level. That things are just too comfortable at home to take that brave step into the firing lines of being on the right side of justice but the wrong side of the law. I'm relieved to see more and more Americans causing necessary trouble. I still think th…

On the contrary I think Americans are reacting about the same as any other set of people would react. There are always going to be people who, as long as their personal lives are stable, they are not going to do anything to put that stability at risk. America is also huge enough that even if one part of the country is having a crisis, millions of fellow citizens will not hear of it or have any 2nd, 3rd or 4th hand co…

You mean like South Korea? Thailand? Peru? Nepal?

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#162

Post by bluebarbet » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:31 PM UTC

wrs wrote: post #75

Waterluvian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not ideal, but it is necessary when the higher-desirability options are not working. What has worried me for years is that Americans would not resort to this level. That things are just too comfortable at home to take that brave step into the firing lines of being on the right side of justice but the wrong side of the law. I'm relieved to see more and more Americans causing necessary trouble. I still think th…

What confuses me is that no revolution is required. All we had to do to avoid this was to vote. Voting would still (probably) work.

Seconded. Democracy is the only transcendental political system: you can have any ideology you want (so be careful or you'll be voting only once). To survive, it depends on civic spirit - i.e. participation. Democracy always collapses into authoritarianism eventually. Then (if you want it bad enough), you have to claw it back, slowly and painfully. All just as Plato foresaw.

It really bothers me that so few people in the modern West understand just how lucky they are. If you didn't have the control you already have over your government, you'd be fighting for it.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#163

Post by dylan604 » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:31 PM UTC

chasd00 wrote: post #118

nvesp wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude my car was literally jacked up and had the catalytic convertor chopped off in a parking with flock cameras at a hotel before, def never got caught, and according to the hotel security footage they parked right next to my car, got out and did everything real fast. Plus most people using cars to commit heinous crimes are usually stolen and ditched right after anyways, people who use their own car to commit crimes…

yeah surveillance doesn't mean secure. A few weeks ago there was a solid 10-15 second run of automatic weapons fire on my street in an intersection. I do a lot of shooting and i could tell from the concussion it couldn't have been more than a couple hundred feet from my bedroom window. My neighbors turned in all their camera footage with recordings of two cars and the gunfire to a detective. When i asked them what ha…

I'm in Dallas as well, and I hear gun shots daily. New Years/4th July absolutely sound like a war zone. I found a slug next to my trash can after a 4th celebration a couple of years ago. Not a shell, the actual slug. I keep it on my desk as a reminder. My fur babies are not allowed outside on those nights.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#164

Post by elictronic » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:32 PM UTC

palata wrote: post #77

0_____0 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have worked with watt class lasers before and I implore you not to do this. Even if it's tempting. Most places where there are surveillance cameras are places where there are also people, and unless you want to hand out OD5 goggles to everyone in eyeshot... a pellet gun would be safer.

Unrelated, but I really want to take the opportunity: How can one know what is dangerous for the eyes or not? Years ago I got an "IR illuminator" (from aliexpress, probably) that I wanted to use with my raspberrypi NoIR camera, for fun. Say filming myself during the night to see how much I move while sleeping, or making my own wildlife camera trap. But I was scared that it could be dangerous and never used it (I test…

Buy from a reputable dealer. I don’t buy batteries, lasers, or items I ingest from locations lacking any repercussions.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#165

Post by ryandrake » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:32 PM UTC

yardie wrote: post #58

Waterluvian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not ideal, but it is necessary when the higher-desirability options are not working. What has worried me for years is that Americans would not resort to this level. That things are just too comfortable at home to take that brave step into the firing lines of being on the right side of justice but the wrong side of the law. I'm relieved to see more and more Americans causing necessary trouble. I still think th…

You won't get to the kind of change you thought you would see until food runs low and the economy stalls. The American Revolution was rare in that it didn't need to happen. The Founders were just being giant assholes (j/k). While the French Revolution just a few decades later was more status quo. A lot of starvation and poverty just pushed the population over the edge.

I would have believed that before 2020, but after COVID, I fully believe that if the food ran out, half the country would say it's a fake hoax. People would be on their death beds actually starving, and deny it was happening with their last breath.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#166

Post by School-Cotton » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:33 PM UTC

bullfightonmars wrote: post #144

achierius wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just like how all we had to do to shut down Guantanamo Bay was vote for President Obama, right? So glad that that worked out. By and large, our institutions are not democratic, in that they are not responsive to 'popular opinion'; while there are certain arenas where, for one reason or another, the will of the majority does sway the day (e.g. the influence of scandals on individual elected officials), by and large mo…

This is ahistoric. No-one ever said we had to "just vote for Obama" to close Guantanamo Bay. Frankly, Obama _tried_ to close Guantanamo Bay. He significantly shrunk the population of inmates, but it was ultimately Congress, and the courts that prevented the closure Obama spent a huge amount of time and political capital trying to clean up Bush's messes.

You're supporting the point of the person you responded to.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#167

Post by daemonologist » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:33 PM UTC

kotaKat wrote: post #12

Terr_ wrote: post #3

> broken and smashed Flock cameras I wonder how resistant the cameras are to strong handheld lasers. I suppose they could harden them against some common wavelengths with filters, but that'd affect the image clarity in normal use.

Last I recall they’re just a crappy 5 megapixel Arducam camera module based on teardowns. https://www.cehrp.org/dissection-of-flock-safety-camera/ https://www.arducam.com/product/arducam-ov5647-noir-camera-b...

Lol that's almost literally the cheapest possible option. You can get these for $3-4 (on a board and with a mipi cable and everything) from China - I have a dozen in a box that I bought to test out a camera array idea before shelling out for nicer sensors.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#168

Post by Larrikin » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:33 PM UTC

Grimblewald wrote: post #120

the__alchemist wrote: post #10

This breakdown in rule of law is unfortunate. Ideally, this would be handled by, in order of desirability: - Flock decision-makers and customers holding ethics as a priority, and not taking the actions they are due to sense of duty, community, morals etc - Peer pressure resulting in ostracization of Flock execs and decision makers until they stop the unethical behavior - Governments using legislation and law enforcem…

People who rape, murder, and eat children run the country and face no hint of repurcussion. There never was rule of law. Only the appearance of it.

Rape is clearly in the Epstein files.

Murder is implied in the Epstein files with an email about burying girls on the property.

Eating sounds like an unhelpful exaggeration, unless I missed a major news story.

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#169

Post by aenis » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

kbrisso wrote: post #59

Waterluvian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is not ideal, but it is necessary when the higher-desirability options are not working. What has worried me for years is that Americans would not resort to this level. That things are just too comfortable at home to take that brave step into the firing lines of being on the right side of justice but the wrong side of the law. I'm relieved to see more and more Americans causing necessary trouble. I still think th…

I agree. The amount of cameras and tracking has gotten out of control. If America actually becomes an "authoritarian" country (seems almost likely) I imagine all these Flock pics with other data mining techniques will be used to send Communist Progressives to reeducation camp.

America is an authoritarian country for decades now.

It first dawned on me when i visited NYC some 30 years ago. I stepped over some arbitrary yellow line I wasn't supposed to - the uniformed cop that noticed that went from 0 to 100 in 0.1 second and behaved as if I just pulled a gun. Zero time to reflect and assume I might have made a legitimate mistake. Since then I've visited U.S. >150 times, and in my experience it was always thus in the U.S. - the law enforcement is on hair trigger and the populace has seemingly grown used to it and considers this behaviour normal. Geez.

(Go live in any northern european country for comparison. Any interaction with law enforcement is almost certainly going to be pleasant, cordial, and uniformed police typically does not rely on threats of violance for authority).

Re: Americans are destroying Flock surveillance cameras

#170

Post by kstrauser » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

steviedotboston wrote: post #146

kstrauser wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Police states are great at solving major crimes. And when those are sufficiently solved, to justify their continued existence, they have to solve lesser crimes, repeating until you need enough surveillance to ensure no one's flushing their toilet improperly. Police states are like autoimmune diseases under the hygiene hypothesis. They'll keep ramping up their sensitivity until they're attacking everything, even when…

Flock cameras can be helpful in all sorts of crimes. They've been used to solve everything from kidnappings to minor property damage. There obviously isn't a future without crime. This is just a tool to make it easier for police to do their job and deter criminals somewhat, but that is probably marginal. There will always be kidnappings, there will always be property damage. Having technology available to make it eas…

Yes, I can see how they would be helpful in solving crimes down to minor property damage.

I do not want to live in a society where police are watching everything I do in the name of solving minor property damage. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" is bullshit. I don't do anything illegal in my bathroom, but I do not wish to have a camera in there, even if it could solve a hypothetical crime.