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Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

seattletimes.com

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Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#391

Post by tiahura »

asveikau wrote: post #268
reactordev wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet they drive away in their GM/Ford/Nissan/Tesla/Any car/truck with its connected media unit and telemetry gathering infotainment systems and think “This is fine”.

People are probably unaware of the telemetry on their vehicle. But this is a good point, people get upset when government is perceived to screw them over and not upset enough when the private sector does it. In practice, the private sector screws over the public quite a bit.

If millions of people are being tracked by GM and haven’t noticed, how is it a problem?

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#392

Post by tiahura »

bdangubic wrote: post #313
SilverElfin wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody likes them This seems like an unsupported assumption. Lots of people like them. Anyone who wants policing to be effective and cares about crime / public safety would like them to have the best tools.

> Anyone who wants policing to be effective and cares about crime / public safety would like them to have the best tools. This depends on what the “cost” is for this “safety,” no? "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

What can’t be done with Flock?

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#393

Post by [deleted] »

zapataband2 wrote: post #338
whatsupdog wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

"iN sUM cOunTries" And in this country border agents pepper spray citizens and black bag elementary school teachers terrorizing your own children. What is this the shitty authoritarian olympics? I thought this was the land of the free and all I see is bootlickers.

[deleted]

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#394

Post by mothballed »

reactordev wrote: post #381
snickerbockers wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We aren't at the point where it's unavoidable though. Even if we assume that its impossible to dodge random onstar/sirius bloatware crap that probably tracks you, you can definitely still buy a car that doesn't have a 5g wireless modem, 360-degree webcam coverage, mandatory automatic software updates, and ass-warming seats locked behind DRM that forces you to have an online account linked to your credit card.

There is no new vehicle produced today that doesn’t track you. Not a single one.

Lot of new motorcycles don't. Although sadly many new ones now have bluetooth and smart phone connectivity which even if not used can be used as an identifier.

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#395

Post by [deleted] »

tomhow wrote: post #345
thrance wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Masked ICE thugs have been abducting citizens, and refusing their victims their due process. Stop acting like you're still ignorant about that.

> Stop acting like you're still ignorant about that. We've asked you multiple times recently to not post in the flamewar style on HN. It's not what HN is for, and eventually we have to ban accounts that keep doing it.

[deleted]

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#396

Post by dpoloncsak »

throwaway173738 wrote: post #364
marssaxman wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some guy I once met in a bar told me that he liked to mix a 1:1 solution of elmer's glue and water, put it into a spray bottle, set the nozzle to "stream", then squirt it all over the lens of a traffic camera near his house which he found offensive. His logic was that this made more sense than destroying the camera, because he could do it over and over and over: the company operating it would have to send someone out…

This is the best way to handle it because if the company presses charges they just look ridiculous.

Honestly, feels like the company is within their right to press charges here? Dude is disabling the equipment that they use to turn revenue, no?

Don't agree with the company, but I don't find a suit here ridiculous. If my job put up cameras, and my form of protest was to deface and disable them, I'd get fired. This isn't a job, it's government, but it's similar in my head. The people with the authority to do something did it.

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#397

Post by belorn »

jesterson wrote: post #373
marssaxman wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some guy I once met in a bar told me that he liked to mix a 1:1 solution of elmer's glue and water, put it into a spray bottle, set the nozzle to "stream", then squirt it all over the lens of a traffic camera near his house which he found offensive. His logic was that this made more sense than destroying the camera, because he could do it over and over and over: the company operating it would have to send someone out…

Not only this does good to society in the obvious way, but also creates jobs as someone needs to clean those. Kudos to the guy, who single-handedly doing what almost all politicians miserably fail at.

Is it good for society to disable traffic cameras? Here in Sweden, traffic camera is used exclusively to reduce traffic speed on roads where the maximum speed is too fast for installing traffic bumps, with an expected effect of reducing traffic speed by around 20-30%. They are generally only installed on 60-90km/h roads, around road maintenance/construction sites, and in tunnels. They active when the radar detects speeds of 5km above the maximum. (The reduction in speed happens regardless if the camera is functional or not, since it is primarily a psychological effect).

Sweden also have traffic monitors that monitor highways around cities, border exists and tunnels, and also license plate readers for toll roads and bridges (also often used for parking). Those two generally have a much higher privacy cost than traffic cameras.

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#398

Post by mothballed »

belorn wrote: post #397
jesterson wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only this does good to society in the obvious way, but also creates jobs as someone needs to clean those. Kudos to the guy, who single-handedly doing what almost all politicians miserably fail at.

Is it good for society to disable traffic cameras? Here in Sweden, traffic camera is used exclusively to reduce traffic speed on roads where the maximum speed is too fast for installing traffic bumps, with an expected effect of reducing traffic speed by around 20-30%. They are generally only installed on 60-90km/h roads, around road maintenance/construction sites, and in tunnels. They active when the radar detects sp…

Reducing speed by 20-30% at scale results in a very large loss of man-years of lives in the form of sitting in a car. Reduced earning capacity, lost time with their families, waking up earlier and risks to health associated with reduced sleep, less theoretical throughput of roadways, reduced money for education/food/childcare when they accidently go too fast for a moment and are fined, lack of discretion in issuing tickets for bona fide emergencies, people suddenly slowing down before camera causing accidents, etc.

The obvious win in places like the US is that being pulled over is one of the most dangerous thing that ever happens to the common person, as they are exposed to a psychopath with a gun who is trained that the most important thing is to optimize every interaction to maximize his chance of 'making it home to his family' and if a policeman shoots everything that moves (up to and including, falling acorns) because he 'fears for his life' he will largely get away with it. So it is a nice alternative to that.

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#399

Post by mothballed »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #327
captainkrtek wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a way to see where they are located? Or which cities are installing them? Hadn’t heard of them til this week

The security cameras deployed in Lowe's and Home Depot parking lots are Flock. All the better to track your movements, citizen.

I don't understand if flock deployment in Lowe/Home Depot is because margins are so low it is the only way to survive, or margins so high that they can afford such a program just to eek out a tiny bit more sales from the collected consumer info.

Either way it doesn't make sense to me why hardware stores are the biggest private use case.

Re: Redmond, WA, turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests

#400

Post by chaps »

reaperducer wrote: post #388
chaps wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's a major city, why isn't their FOIA team larger? Signed: A frequent requester.

It is a very major city. The vast majority of people on the planet have heard of it. I can only speculate that it wants to put more cops on the street, instead of paying civilians to do paperwork. The real world isn't like TV. Like everyone else, police departments have to work within a budget. People don't just magically appear from off-screen to do more work.

You are so, so close.
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