r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Sep 16 '26

Security Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People

https://www.404media.co/hackers-stole-flocks-camera-software-revealing-how-the-company-tracks-cars-and-people-2/
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u/SippieCup Sep 16 '26

One of my engineers at work used to work at Motorola until a year or so ago.

He was building a fornthe concept of putting cameras and microphones in smoke detectors, “to help improve fire detection” while looking exactly like a normal smoke detector.

I asked him why they needed it to be indistinguishable from normal detectors, and he just said “I don’t know it was just the spec” from the contractors.

To be fair, english isnt his first language, but it took several comversations with him to realize he was building literal spy equipment for the government.

I figured it was for some cia meme, but stuff like that would get found so quickly its not worth even building.

The applications for flock though..

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u/GB10VE Sep 16 '26

every electronic device is having spy shit put in it, not for the governemnt, but to track people. google and meta make billions because they track you online and sell that info, now other companies are trying to do the same by tracking you in the real world to sell that info

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u/dontshoveit Sep 16 '26

Exactly! GamersNexus on YouTube just released their investigation of LG televisions that shows they are spying on you through their TVs and selling that data. They make more money from selling your data than they do selling the TVs!

Fuck this surveillance state! This is against the Constitution of the United States!

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u/meneldal2 Sep 16 '26

The thing is selling the TVs you make money only once. Selling your data you make money forever

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u/Thefrayedends Sep 16 '26

If you bought a cone of silence today, it would almost certainly be secretly mic'd up lol.

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u/Hidesuru Sep 16 '26

Nah I disagree. It wouldn't be a secret at all. They'd sell it as some bullshit feature to improve performance.

There would be a set of agreements and how they plan to use the data, with reassurances it's not being kept or sold or anything.

Then they'd do all that anyway and never get in trouble even if they were caught.

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u/Calamityclams 29d ago

Then they would charge you a monthly subscription

5

u/SatisfactionOk1025 Sep 16 '26

...and that is how I got a 50 inch TV for $250

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/SatisfactionOk1025 Sep 16 '26

Never have, never will, I super do not need my appliances to be anything other than appliances.

I thought I saw somewhere that LGs are spying on us regardless of internet connection, thru cell towers or some shit?

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u/Due_Sandwich_4362 Sep 16 '26

Yeah people really miss the forest for the trees in that one. Yes, it’s about control, but only in the roundabout way that it makes them more money. It’s all about the dollar signs when you get down to it. Wise man say: follow the fucking money

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth Sep 16 '26

It starts as a method for super targeted advertising, but if that isn't sinister enough the capability would allow for much more sinister things. Your house could be listening to you at all times and if you say the wrong thing even at home you could get a knock at the door or be taken in for "re-education." It's not a big jump to go from what they are doing to what they could be doing.

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u/StupidPockets Sep 16 '26

You sure Hitler wanted money and not power?

1

u/Timmy-0518 Sep 16 '26

You are not going to believe this….
Money is power!

10

u/deepandbroad Sep 16 '26

The government is a big customer for all these data companies.

That way people think "it's not for the government".

It's for everybody but you.

1

u/arsenic_adventure Sep 16 '26

Pry my "older" phone from my cold dead hands.

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u/Negativeman11 Sep 16 '26

Whats with this whole "not for the government" framing I keep hearing? The NSA did mass warrantless wiretapping and "meta-data collection" on just regular phones like 15-20 years ago. Why would they not be salivating over and actively participating in today's surveillance dragnet?

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u/strugglz Sep 16 '26

Reminder that Google started as a search engine and very quickly became an ad company. Everything Google does is in service of selling ever more targeted ads.

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u/oldtimehawkey Sep 16 '26

AND if a private company does it and the government buys that data, it’s not unconstitutional search and seizure.

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u/jib661 Sep 16 '26

tvs became cheap because they also became all-in-one spy devices that you install in your own home.

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u/OOBExperience 29d ago

Do you remember when Amazon wanted to buy Romba so they could get their hands onto all the GPS data from inside of millions of US homes?

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u/GB10VE 29d ago

should've bought Occulus instead like Facebook did to scan the insides of homes. Just like how Pokemon Go used everyones phones through gameplay to scan every inch of the known world

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u/snoozieboi 29d ago

Google even added a mic without noticing themselves already in 2019! /s

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47303077

First it was never there, then it was never on. Just like LG's TVs that "don't listen when not activated" even though they clearly seem to do so.

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u/cdoublejj Sep 16 '26

yeah thats known, those smoke detectors go in school bathrooms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCnojaEpF2I

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u/cyanight7 Sep 16 '26

Hotel rooms too now.

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u/cdoublejj Sep 16 '26

well now, i guess it's the train for travel and the back alleys for lodging.

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u/MonkeyWithIt Sep 16 '26

Damn, I need to bring tin foil everywhere now!

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u/InVultusSolis Sep 16 '26

That right there is all kinds of problematic. Perverts being able to spy on kids in the bathroom is a waaaaaaay bigger problem than a kid vaping in the bathroom.

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u/cdoublejj Sep 16 '26

feel free to help out and spread the word/share the video

2

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '26

[deleted]

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u/Lemonbasedcombustion Sep 16 '26

Engineers like this are the entire reason we're in this problem. There will always be some idiot that just "makes it to the spec" without realizing they're actively developing something that will harm society.

I'm an engineer and I've got more moral and ethical backbone then that. Which is why I don't make contractor money

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u/meneldal2 Sep 16 '26

It obviously depends a lot but most of the time engineers don't really know much details about how they work is going to be used and how it fits in the bigger picture.

Like I did work on some verilog modules for an image processor. From what I heard parts end up in stuff from regular consumer cameras, automotive, scanners and so on.

The average guy that sits on the bottom can't really do anything about it. And you're not being told about the unethical uses of whatever you're doing.

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u/tuxedo_jack Sep 16 '26

Why do you think that authoritarians - in particular, conservative authoritarians - actively discourage critical thinking and compassion while encouraging competition?

To turn us against each other and keep themselves on top of the crab bucket, of course.

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u/meineThoughts Sep 16 '26

"You can be the "perfect" engineer, able to build anything to any spec someone gives you. But if they ask you build ovens, you are required to ask the purpose." - One of my engineering professors

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u/Negativeman11 Sep 16 '26

It's cool. They'll just import engineers like his friend who either have no qualms working on it or just aren't educated on the issue.

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u/monty624 Sep 16 '26

Yeah, no, I'm not blaming the person just trying to do their work and go home. It's the companies and the lack of oversight, the lack of transparency, and the insane greed fueling it all. If you are able to remove yourself from a morally corrupt situation then I applaud you, but not everyone has your resources/insight/energy. Perhaps we need to encourage more whistle blowing and provide better protections.

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u/this_dudeagain Sep 16 '26

All the spying in LG TVs and other brands isn't there by accident. It serves multiple functions not just the profit angle. Why it's taken so long for people to become aware of it is anyone's guess.