Interesting, but nothing new. Shodan users have known about clueless IP camera owners that leave their cameras on the public internet for years. This is a little more interesting because it's from a well-funded startup rather than independently owned Chinese IP cameras.
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
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Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#82If the cameras are recoding public areas, isn’t it better the recorded footage stays public
Would you want your partner or child stalked, raped, and murdered?
You don't even need to drop an air tag now, you can use the license plate reader to track them everywhere they go. There is no hiding.
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
And let me share this reply by Garry Tan, CEO of YC, after someone made a comment that Flock might be _pretty dystopian_ [1][2]: > You're thinking Chinese surveillance > US-based surveillance helps victims and prevents more victims [1] https://x.com/neurajordan/status/1963303084609966288 [2] https://x.com/garrytan/status/1963310592615485955
I've never heard about this Tan guy before, I don't keep up with politics/corporatism anymore, but is that possibly sarcasm? It sure feels like it to me. But again, I don't know this person, but if I came across that by itself I feel like it's pretty clearly sarcastic, as Twitter tends to be. Maybe I'm just tone deaf myself to how tone deaf others could be?
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Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#84It's 2025. The ISP gateway I got comes with more default security than these cameras. The barrier to entry on security is lower than it ever has been in history. Whoever let this past the QC phase is an idiot.
Counterpoint: whoever let this past the QC phase got paid very generously, and everyone involved is ignoring the laws that already exist to combat this, because law enforcement, too, gets paid generously. And the laws that forbid that aren't getting enforced because the police doesn't police the police, and dad has made it perfectly clear that flagrantly ignoring the law is fine if you're in power.
What makes you think QA/QC is paid handsomely? It's a bloody cost center mate, and you can't measure "damage prevented" consistently, or at least in a way most high-risk tolerating exec types won't immediately undermine.
t. Former QA veteran
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#85If the cameras are recoding public areas, isn’t it better the recorded footage stays public
I think so, but it is a loosely held opinion at this point. Fundamentally, I think it is a huge, asymmetric power grab by Flock and local police to install these systems. It only takes one officer looking up their local politician and finding them doing something that could even look like a bad deed (or to fake it in the era of AI videogen...) to enable blackmail and personal/professional gain.
If they're going to exist, it may be better for that to be spread among the public than to be left in the hands of the few.
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#86remember when people first started experiencing TSA and there were massive protests at how obscene and violating it all was, then uncovering how useless they were as fake security theater and they were going to get it all shut down TWENTY-FIVE YEARS NOW so good luck getting rid of flock where people don't even know it's happening Not sure if people realize that cellphone locations, several layers in the firmware and…
Moreover, people are pissed off when someone's angry because of TSA bs. "Don't be an asshole, they're just doing their jobs". "Oh someone's first week on this planet".
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
And let me share this reply by Garry Tan, CEO of YC, after someone made a comment that Flock might be _pretty dystopian_ [1][2]: > You're thinking Chinese surveillance > US-based surveillance helps victims and prevents more victims [1] https://x.com/neurajordan/status/1963303084609966288 [2] https://x.com/garrytan/status/1963310592615485955
I've never heard about this Tan guy before, I don't keep up with politics/corporatism anymore, but is that possibly sarcasm? It sure feels like it to me. But again, I don't know this person, but if I came across that by itself I feel like it's pretty clearly sarcastic, as Twitter tends to be. Maybe I'm just tone deaf myself to how tone deaf others could be?
He probably being sincere. If you're logged in (or use something like xcancel), you can see the full thread, where he starts off with
> Flock Safety currently solves 700,000 reported cases of crime per year, which is about 10% of reported crime nationwide
> And they're just getting started
His profile also says:
>President & CEO @ycombinator —Founder @Initialized—designer/engineer who helps founders—SF Dem accelerating the boom loop—haters not allowed in my sauna
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#88[flagged]
You miss the point. This is a law enforcement tool. The average American doesn’t want a surveillance state and that’s literally what’s happening. The legal aspect of it is not in question here. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. Anyone deploying or involved with this technology should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.
That's not the point the video makes. Flock didn't invent CCTV. Not that I am trying to defend mass surveillance or incompetent silicon valley companies.
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#89remember when people first started experiencing TSA and there were massive protests at how obscene and violating it all was, then uncovering how useless they were as fake security theater and they were going to get it all shut down TWENTY-FIVE YEARS NOW so good luck getting rid of flock where people don't even know it's happening Not sure if people realize that cellphone locations, several layers in the firmware and…
That's why it's good to use GrapheneOS*. In the future, hopefully the pinebook project succeeds
How does using GrapheneOS prevent license plate readers from tracking where you are, or from you being groped at the airport?
Re: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
#90At what point does the top brass at Flock get arrested?
For what? Under current jurisprudence collecting license plates images isn't illegal, because there's no expectation of privacy in public. They could post the information online if they wanted to and they'd be in the clear. It's fine to object to ANPR networks on the basis of "mass surveillance" or whatever, but screaming for people to be arrested without legal basis, just because you don't like what they're doing is…
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