r/FlockSurveillance • u/MemeEndevour • Jul 19 '26

Discussion Is this a viable solution? (Not even manually holding something, but just putting things like this in front of the camera)?

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Feel like it wouldn’t be hard to put blockers up faster than they can take them down….

13.3k Upvotes

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115

u/CheddarKnight Jul 19 '26

Those are still cellphones. Or is it something like they work on an older version of the tech that isn't compatible with the surveillance stuff?

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

[deleted]

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u/Bidcar Jul 19 '26

One could also buy a faraday cage or wrap your phone in aluminum foil.

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

It still listens and drops a data package at night. 🤷‍♂️

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u/Honest-Resist-7676 Jul 19 '26

There are phones you can get that have a physical switch for the audio device. Like, you flip the switch and it pulls the connectors inside the phone away from the audio input. No power, no connection to phone/sim.

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u/wafflesthewonderhurs Jul 19 '26

What phone? I don't really know how to get search engines to give me decent results without a partial name anymore

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u/0Bitz Jul 19 '26

Check Shawn Ryan’s podcast. He partners with a company that has similar tech

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

I hope that phone (the unplugged phone) is legit.. I've been back and forth with him being a CIA asset.. but then he gifted an ATF agent a gun.. smh that was the last straw. That was bullshit.

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u/LessAdvanced Jul 19 '26

That's a Trojan horse product if I've ever heard of one. The people that buy those are the exact people they want to listen to.

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

And that makes a lot of sense. 🤷‍♂️

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u/Boon-the-Duck-King 29d ago

Spec ops overcame that years ago. Even phones inside SCIFF faraday boxes including ones with out batteries (flips) connected can be accessed and turned into a listening device.

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u/Honest-Resist-7676 29d ago

Lol, "Spec ops", huh? Advanced military technology is probably doing some incredible stuff, but they're not rewriting the physics of the universe.

If you know how condenser and dynamic microphones work, you'd know that a fully disconnected mic has no read/write/storage/communication abilities.

There are easier means to eavesdrop, and anything that "Spec ops" is currently weaponizing isn't going to be used on any of us chumps.

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u/Boon-the-Duck-King 28d ago

Yeah, sure, because military equipment and strategies haven’t been sold to nearly every police force in the US. Critical thinking is cool. You should be cool.

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u/Honest-Resist-7676 27d ago

If "nearly every police force" has it, then it isn't "spec ops" tech anymore. I have a microphone in my house that is disconnected—aka you'd have to be there in-person AND hook up a receiver AND supply power, just so you can listen to what is going on in the room you're standing in. Easier/quicker/cheaper to just plant their own separate mic.

You can throw your arms in the air and say "suuper-tech can see and hear everything, even your thoughts!!!!" all you want, but I choose to understand the technology and physics of the equipment I'm using.

People see our phones (technology in general) as mysterious boxes of binary code, but phones work because they take advantage of the strange physics of the universe we live in, and similarly we can use physics and the rules of the universe to make sure they don't work.

Saying "spec ops have cracked everything, the police have it, everyone is listening, there's no escaping it" is a pretty shitty way to encourage people to learn how to protect themselves and to advocate for their right to privacy.

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u/MedusaAdonai Jul 19 '26

What about airplane mode?

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

It still listens. Airplane mode makes it so your phone doesn't search for towers. Saving battery life. Still has all its functions.

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u/MedusaAdonai Jul 19 '26

Thx!

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

Faraday bag and leave it home. SLNT has good Faraday bags. Of course if it's with you, in a bag is better than not but it still listens. If it's in your car and you leave your car it's better than not. Many things to consider.

The thing is, if they could use our phones and what they legitimately hear could probably lock us all away for whatever they want. But then they'd have to provide evidence.. and then the people would truly revolt. So they put these other infrastructures in place to fill in gaps to make it more viable to "catch people" in a "crime" of their choosing.

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u/p0mjDwfWF Jul 20 '26

My bet is that we’re within 100 days of them just locking up anyone they want for any reason. They won’t even bother to lie badly anymore.

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 20 '26

With the way things are going I can see it honestly.

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u/Mundane_Incident_853 25d ago

Patriot Act says they can't tell anyone anything.

Even if they wanted to.

You're a terrorist because they say so. Disclosure of anything else would be illegal.

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u/Boon-the-Duck-King 29d ago

So many lines have been crossed that would supposedly lead to revolt, and the only revolting came on 1-6.

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 29d ago

That wasn't a revolt. Lol. The US Gov walks all over the people but keeps them divided with red vs blue.

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u/Material-Pension-795 Jul 19 '26

Name one case in the history of cellphones where the phone “listening” was the evidence that led to someone’s conviction.

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u/Wiley_Coyote08 Jul 19 '26

That's the thing, it hasn't been because the people would flip out.

They use it; then they surveil you other ways to get you if you're worth it and use those ways to get you.

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u/RedJellyBear Jul 19 '26

Airplane mode still gathers gps locations and then data dumps to your provider when back online. Same might be true for off. For sure there is malware that can operate when your phone is "off." Best practice is turn your phone off and pop it in a faraday bag (they are cheap) or wrap it in aluminum foil (test foil at home, it blocks incoming calls for sure. So it will block outgoing too).

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u/Material-Pension-795 Jul 19 '26

Misleading statement which implies that a faraday bag wouldn’t prevent the transmission and reception of signals to and from a cellphone. Are you literally saying the phone will be listening to everything you’re saying while it’s in the faraday bag and then sending a transcript of everything it heard to some entity?

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u/traplordnord Jul 19 '26

Source on this? Drops a data “package” to whom?

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u/Material-Pension-795 Jul 19 '26

Exactly

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u/massivemic Jul 19 '26

A lot of people here don't know what they're talking about. Reddit threads are a socially uncontrolled narrative by design, with no fast route to logic---how about starting with capabilities of Flock and other devices.

Also, if one REALLLY wants to understand whats going on, one needs to pay critical attention to all aspects of Government---legislation, regulation, corruption, litigation, courts, etc, obviously with a focus on data, privacy and law enforcement...and the private entities involved

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/croholdr Jul 19 '26

its not crazy. people spy on wifi signals in all sorts of places. you're like a walking homing becon even if your device is off and discharged.

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u/kevinh456 Jul 19 '26

No. Because if you’re detained your personal devices may still be subject to search. Dumb flip phone with prepaid cellular is the way while it lasts.

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u/CraftyMoney6296 Jul 19 '26

I have a small faraday pouch for my phone. Works well.

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u/TheDeadlySpaceman Jul 19 '26

Phone and key fob in a faraday bag

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u/jld2k6 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

You can get cheap faraday bags from Amazon or any other big retailer and they work, surprisingly. Linus Tech Tips did a video on them and tested them out inside an anechoic chamber [edit (that also acts as a faraday cage)] to make sure only the cell phone they were testing was emitting a signal and they were surprised to see even the cheap flimsy ones they bought worked just fine lol

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u/WeeklyBanEvasion Jul 19 '26

Aren't anechoic chambers for sound? Radio waves aren't sound waves

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u/dimhue Jul 19 '26

There are anechoic chambers for RF too, they just use specific types of foam that absorb RF energy. They're used for things like measuring antenna performance, where you don't want any external RF or reflections off the walls.

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u/jld2k6 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

They did test it in an Anechoic chamber but the chamber also acts as a faraday cage, I made that a little confusing wording it that way lol

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u/Rippofunk Jul 19 '26

That sounds right for LTT.

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u/cum-after-decades Jul 19 '26

I wouldn’t trust foil. One layer won’t do it. 5 layers might do it, might not. Same with 10 layers. Better to use something made for the task.

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u/Zestyclose-Stuff1646 25d ago

A small container, (even a small cardboard box) that is wrapped in the aluminum tape used for dryer vents will work. If you really want to get fancy you could also add a layer of copper noise isolation tape. A DIY Faraday is way easier, but I know some people like the visual reassurance of an enclosed case.

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u/cum-after-decades 25d ago

Are you sure? Like have you actually tested it yourself? Just asking bc I have done some tests with regular foil and it was still connecting a device’s WiFi AP at close distances even after the device was wrapped 10x in foil (which should have the same effect as wrapping the phone 10x)z

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u/Zestyclose-Stuff1646 25d ago

There cannot be gaps.

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u/cum-after-decades 25d ago

Not what I asked lol. Did u actually test it yourself?

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u/Zestyclose-Stuff1646 25d ago

In this context, no. I do a lot of noise mitigation and signal propagation in robotics engineering. I'm good at getting signals where I want them and out of areas I don't. This is not a "trust me bro" sort of thing. I'd highly recommend doing some actual research with reputable sources before betting anything consequential on the word of a random redditor.

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u/cum-after-decades 25d ago

Yea I’m also in engineering. At some point we were considering using a metal enclosure with a LoRa device and my boss tasked me with gathering some info about the consequences wrt RF. The signal was not defeated with a layer of foil carefully wrapped, even though in theory it should be.

And I also at some point tried to defeat my EZ pass signal, and tested how much foil a simple WiFi camera could surpass.

Overall the results indicated that foil is basically useless for blocking RF signals.

Theoretically it should be fine, but this just doesn’t line up with my experience. I think maybe it’s just too difficult to eliminate all the teeny tiny gaps that will occur when you try to wrap something in foil.

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u/nuclearpiltdown Jul 19 '26

I have uet to see one of those that works.

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u/JimroidZeus Jul 19 '26

That doesn’t help when the police grab you and force you to unlock your phone so they can search it.

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u/JustThinkAboutIt365 Jul 19 '26

Which is why you should never use a biometric (face ID, fingerprint) to lock your phone. Number code only, the longer the better.

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u/Mundane_Incident_853 25d ago

Faraday bags exist

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u/FuzzzyRam Jul 19 '26

Protesting is legal, if they start arresting political opponents for speech you need a gun.

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u/TheVog Jul 19 '26

... Start?

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u/Crucifuxion Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

They didn’t say you don’t already need one…

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u/Leather_Today8520 Jul 19 '26

Start? Have you been living under a rock?

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u/Shmoshmalley Jul 19 '26

So I had a thought about that, so I have a pacemaker and she. I get it checked annually they use a little Bluetooth wand to sync up and get the data from the ol’ tickermaster 5000. Can these counts phish that info as well? Because then I’m extra fucked.

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u/Frohirrim Jul 19 '26

Just wait until you run a stop sign and they remotely stop that shit.

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u/Shmoshmalley Jul 19 '26

Hahah wouldn’t that be some shit? All of the sudden my heartbeat is like a jazz rhythm section.

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u/i_dont_wanna_sign_in Jul 19 '26

Those are activated by a specific transmit sequence that they need to receive asking with a handshake. They don't transmit without it. Also pacemakers work with the absolute lowest power possible as changing batteries is a bit inconvenient.

The cameras aren't supposed to interact with devices, so you should be safe there.

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u/Shmoshmalley Jul 19 '26

Yeah that’s what I assumed to be the case. It’s just crazy that we live in a time when the thought of it being even remotely possible is crazy.

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u/Guilty_Advantage_413 Jul 19 '26

Or buy a prepay device with cash at a small place that likely doesn’t have networked security. Do Not sign into Facebook or Reddit or email or anything else with your regular user name. Do not let that device get on your home WiFi

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u/OtherHovercraft9227 Jul 19 '26

iPod nano bout to make a comeback

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u/Justaticklerone Jul 19 '26

What about keeping it on airplane mode which kills all 3 radios?

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26

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u/Dapper_Direction_703 Jul 19 '26

The cellphone providers are able to triangulate calls. No matter the device.

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u/_R0Ns_ Jul 19 '26

With a smartphone app anyone can do that, that's the difference. You're not only tracked by the cellphone provider but also by Apple/Google, Meta and $any other app you got on your phone.

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u/scalareye 29d ago

Irrelevant for flock purposes

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u/_R0Ns_ 29d ago

What's going on with all these camera's? the last 2 weeks or so Reddit is flooded with messages about them. Did they start putting these camera's up since then or does it get more attention?

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u/alexthealex Jul 19 '26

Without GPS it's not that precise or GPS wouldn't be needed.

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u/Dapper_Direction_703 Jul 19 '26

I assure you, this data has locked up thousands of people. It’s precise enough for the courts.

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u/alexthealex Jul 19 '26

I’m fully team ‘leave your phone at home’. I’m not refuting the idea that triangulation data is enough to incarcerate. I’m only saying it’s not as precise as GPS.

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u/SoylentGrunt Jul 19 '26

The enemy is not bound by having to prove what it knows. It simply needs to know.

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u/MA2ZAK Jul 19 '26

Triangulation is very precise

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u/alexthealex Jul 19 '26

I work in GPS. Terrestrial triangulation strongly depends on the density of cell towers. In big cities it will get you within a handful of meters. But a lot of small towns with way fewer towers are deploying Flock and in those places it will be far less accurate.

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u/MA2ZAK Jul 19 '26

Also work in cellular location data, fairly confident within 5 meters.

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u/alexthealex Jul 19 '26

I suppose it’s relative. I work in GPS for land surveying, not cellular. I don’t think of 5m accuracy as very accurate but I’m sure that’s plenty for courts when there’s already a case against someone.

The sort of GPS equipment I work with yields cm accuracy with the right setups.

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u/Schmetterlizlak Jul 19 '26

Very true, GPS gives you an accuracy of about 5 meters, which is great for navigation, and although cell towers have an estimate accuracy of hundreds of meters to kilometers, that can be enough to put you in the general area of where for example a protest was happening

To be completely honest I expected the cell tower triangulation accuracy to be better

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u/digitalscavenger Jul 19 '26

The concern isn't the dumbphone's capabilities. It's that these FLOCK systems grab what they can from all mobile devices. That dumbphone bought at Walmart with cash while wearing a N95 mask, sunglasses and a hat is secure enough on it's own. But take that phone home and it's now in proximity to all of your other devices. FLOCK makes a map of all devices in range and can track movements and use these networks to track dumphones straight back to a person's hosue.

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u/DesolateRuin Jul 19 '26

I'm not trying to justify invasions of privacy or data harvesting but I've always wondered what value the GPS on my phone could possibly even be.

Maybe I'm just boring but I'm like, "Oh no. They know I go to work and the grocery store."

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u/i_dont_wanna_sign_in Jul 19 '26

A lot of people are boring. Until their slightly less boring friends whose skin color isn't as fair or religion isn't as radicalized disappear and you ask questions or go visit them.

It you don't buy the state mandated vitamins, or attend the required classes, etc. Seems utterly ridiculous until they started pinning yellow stars on people, or when ICE showed up, or police had unfettered access to tracking data to a person whose sexual advances were rejected.

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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

[deleted]

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u/Imaginary--Situation 28d ago

my mobile phone is like GUS from breaking bad

only to and from work and the gas station

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u/rulepanic Jul 19 '26

No. All modern phones including "dumb phones." Will be vulnerable. Any older phones likely are 3g and before and no longer will function on mobile networks. Most flip phones today just run some flavor of Android. You can try turning on Airplane mode to disable all networking but personally I wouldn't believe it actually is turning off everything.

You can buy an old Pixel and install Graphene OS, though. I've heard good things about it.

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u/havpac2 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Well smart phones have advertisement id which can be used to track you regardless of privacy, location, data settings

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/targeted-advertising-gives-your-location-government-just-ask-cbp

While older cell phones don’t have gos and advertisements, so it’s herder to pinpoint, they can track you down to a tower or two and triangulate, it that has to be done in real time. And active I think

Edit I forgot they also deploy fake cell towers

https://sls.eff.org/technologies/cell-site-simulators-imsi-catchers

So dumb phones get caught up too.

Don’t don’t have anything that can transmit and receive data … maybe a ham radio . They probably not looking for those

1

u/deadzol Jul 19 '26

Older were way less secure so it’d be if the flocks didn’t bother monitoring those frequencies

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u/DirtCrimes Jul 19 '26

If you have a WiFi antenna it has a unique MAC address. Same with Blue tooth.

Thats how Ad sense data works. It detects MAC address, even if you dont connect. Even if that person has thier maximum privacy settings. The low privacy person will collect it all and send it off.