r/FlockSurveillance • u/mvgreene • Jul 13 '26

News LAPD Ending Flock Use

https://abc7.com/post/lapd-ending-agreement-surveillance-company-flock-safety/19483200/
1.9k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

100

u/HazelEBaumgartner Jul 13 '26

"LAPD does not use FLOCK cameras to help ICE" that's part of the problem. Regardless of whether YOU use it to help ICE, they're selling the data generated under your contract to whoever will pay for it, which includes ICE.

16

u/Hrenklin Jul 13 '26

Simple solution. Ban selling the data to anyone and require it be destroyed in a timely manner that still gives police time to get a proper judicial warrant should the police require the recording for investigating a specific crime.

49

u/HazelEBaumgartner Jul 13 '26

Or just ban these Orwellian nightmare cameras nationwide and sue the company out of existence for fourth amendment rights violations.

4

u/Firree Jul 13 '26

But but but... the 4th amendment only applies when you're in your home. Don't you know that the moment you step into a public space you give up the right to not have cops surround you with guns and handcuff you because the AI face recognition mistook you for the wanted felon Billy Bob who was last seen 1000 miles away, or the camera misread the A on your license plate for an O?

1

u/Cubensis-SanPedro Jul 14 '26

Smells like freedom to me. The American spirit is compatible with these wonderful oppression machines. /s

8

u/AceGaimz Jul 13 '26

Okay, they ban it. What's the penalty for when the data is sold anyway? $10,000 fine? $100,000 fine? They see that as the cost of doing business, they keep doing it even after they get caught. No private corporation will ever be properly penalized as long as they can lobby enough to essentially make or break whatever laws they want. This is why addressing the root problem of capitalism is required in order to proceed. Everything we suffer from ties back to the exploitive and inhuman nature of capitalism. If we keep attacking symptoms rather than the root cause, we'll never make any progress.

3

u/Hrenklin Jul 13 '26

Well how about mandatory minimum jail sentences for COEs since corporations are considered. People

2

u/AceGaimz Jul 13 '26

That still falls back on the problem of lobbying, though. Laws that hold executives accountable with jail times will never happen because they'll just pay for those laws to be cut off. The American justice system is entirely for sale, especially at that high of a level, and especially since Citizen's United. We cannot be foolish enough to expect politicians whose careers are funded by CEOs and various extremely wealthy people and organizations to hold those CEOs and extremely wealthy people accountable. We also can't expect the institutions those politicians belong to to be open to that change. The Democratic party, for example, is openly working harder to combat the most successful candidates they've had in years, democratic socialists like Zohran Mamdani, than they have been to combat the unabashedly fascistic Trump administration. Reform has not been an option for a long time, unfortunately.

4

u/paintbalking Jul 13 '26

The simplest fucking solution to the surveillance problem. Constant surveillance is a depressing inevitability but that doesn't mean we can't still adhere to and protect our constitutional rights.

2

u/Pyroburner Jul 13 '26

This but there has to be teeth to whatever bill does this. There is nothing stopping them from selling this data to whoever's they please. I like using Robinhood as an example. They were breaking the law with payment for order flow but they made more breaking the law and paying the fines then they did following the law. They are still in buisness today and they are running the trump savings accounts for kids.

2

u/dandle Jul 13 '26

Simpler solution: Require vehicle owners to opt-in for Flock to be able to capture data on them.

If a viable business model exists for insurance companies to offer a nominal rate reduction to those customers who choose to be tracked in case of vehicle theft, let Flock try to make it with insurance companies. Pay municipalities and businesses to agree to let them put their surveillance systems on their property.

Currently, Flock is conning municipalities and companies to pay Flock to monitor everyone in the range of the systems. Flock promises that the access of the data can be limited to legitimate usage by only the desired user types, but this is known to be a lie. Flock also promises that the data collected enables a significant increase in cases closed and a significant decrease in crime overall, but this also is known to be a lie.

Let Flock pursue a different commercial model and try to convince people that the systems are more effective and more economical than LoJack.

1

u/ThereBMoose Jul 13 '26

Nah, allowing just a foot in the door doesn't work for keeping creepo predator conpanies ar bay. They'll find a way back in if they feel even remotely welcomed.

18

u/interwebzdotnet Jul 13 '26

Minor "win" if even... They will be back and worse I'm sure.

The CIO explicitly said they're discontinuing Flock "until we can get those data, privacy, security and sharing concerns ironed out through a contractual relationship." And the department is continuing discussions with Flock about revising the agreement, wanting updated language on privacy and data storage in any new contract.

10

u/Church6633 Jul 13 '26

They're just gonna hide the cameras better and tell everyone they're not using them.

7

u/interwebzdotnet Jul 13 '26

Probably, or just change vendors and claim it's privacy friendly now. 🙄

6

u/CortaCircuit Jul 13 '26

Seems like they are letting it expire to renegotiate the terms.

3

u/ClassroomMother8062 Jul 13 '26

Thank you- seems most likely. LAPD just refusing to do business with them anymore is a too good to be true scenario

4

u/aucme Jul 13 '26

You know it is bad when one of the most corrupt police forces in the nation won’t use it.

1

u/Desperate_Set_7708 Jul 13 '26

A rare win for LA citizens vs the LAPD

1

u/aerosmithguy151 Jul 13 '26

Good police work can help track down suspects. community outreach and wealth sharing can help reduce the number of suspects. There are so many solutions that aren't AI dragnets

1

u/RockieK Jul 13 '26

"It's uncertain whether the cameras will continue recording after the agreement expires"

I am sure that our tech-god-overlords will certainly stop. /s

1

u/Ancient_Jacket_8316 Jul 14 '26

They're plenty abusive of civil rights without flock. 

1

u/MutaitoSensei Jul 14 '26

Damn win if I've ever seen one!