Warrantless Surveillance Is An Unalloyed Evil, And Cannot Be Justified By Claiming A Reduction In Crime

This is an absolutely moronic take on a massive degradation of our civil liberties. It's difficult to underestimate the stupidity of this author, who seems to think that there is some balanced equation between our God-given, natural rights, and the destruction of those rights on the altar of safety.

Do Flock Cameras Actually Work?

It’s been a tough summer for automatic license plate readers (ALPRs). Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that at least 50 police officers have been charged with or accused of misusing plate-reader networks, including for stalking wives, ex-girlfriends, and other women. One small-town Georgia police chief ran his ex-girlfriend’s plates roughly 600 times. California legislators took up the technology in hearings titled “Don’t Flock me,” a jab at Flock, the Atlanta company whose ALPRs now scan roads in more than 6,000 American communities. A backlash that began among left-leaning civil libertarians has spread to the populist Right, and city councils now face packed hearings on whether to keep the cameras.
The debate has become more heat than light. Both sides fixate on anecdotes, with supporters pointing to abducted children recovered after a timely plate hit, while critics list stories of rogue officers and plate data shared far beyond the agencies that collected this information. Neither answers a question that policymakers face: Does the technology produce enough public safety to justify its costs, in dollars and in privacy?

I don't give a sh*t that Flock and other unconstitutional searches may decrease crime. So will sending SWAT teams into every house in America to look for drugs or "illegal" weapons, or taking the medical records of every American and analyzing them for possible illegality. Or sending forensic accountants into every business in America and checking their books. Or....

The list is long how we can make ourselves "safer." But as some very wise men understood, safety is a temporary condition that leads inexorably to totalitarianism.

Does that sound histrionic? Maybe, but provide a counter example please!

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom - go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

-- Samuel Adams

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

-- Benjamin Franklin

Government is fundamentally evil, and the expansion of its surveillance capacity simply makes it worse, and gives it more power over us. If anyone thinks that government is expanding its surveillance capacity because it will make us safer, then I have a bridge to sell you. They expand it, and all of its power, for one reason: control over the people.

We have to push back whenever we can, and Flock cameras are an excellent place to take a stand. And it's easy! Agitate against them in every public forum, starting with your local government council. And if you ever end up on a jury for a trial of someone who destroyed a Flock camera or any other onerous surveillance technology...you know what to do.

Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Nooded.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:02 PM (NcvvS)

2 Good afternoon everyone

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 12:02 PM (Ia/+0)

3
Better to collect information on 10,000 innocent people than catch an actual criminal.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 30, 2026 12:02 PM (O0L8i)

4 And SPONGE!! At two minutes after?

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:02 PM (NcvvS)

5 Power corrupts, absolute powet corrupts absolutely comes to mind

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 12:03 PM (Ia/+0)

6
Willowed

I used to try to keep up, but I don't any more; I try to finish each day being a little more out of it than I was the day before. Haven't checked with the offspring or grandkids lately but I suspect they'd say I'm succeeding.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 30, 2026 11:55 AM (q3u5l)

The concept of subsidiarity is helpful. Make your concern those things closest to you. Your family, your friends, your neighborhood, your church, your hobbies. Much beyond that, you don't have much influence.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 30, 2026 12:03 PM (O0L8i)

7 I think COVID taught us a thing or two about "safety."

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 12:03 PM (2Ez/1)

8 3
Better to collect information on 10,000 innocent people than catch an actual criminal.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Toss a piece of wood at a data center under construction in memory of Sinwar.

Yeah, this is Normal.

Posted by: MANFRED the Heat Seeking OBOE at August 30, 2026 12:04 PM (QnlTD)

9 They're getting serious now.

Florida Man Charged With Felony After Smashing Decoy Flock Camera

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 12:05 PM (ndZc7)

10 "Gee, I wish we would have had those Flock Cameras".

Retired East German STASI guy with a monocle

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at August 30, 2026 12:06 PM (gm9Sb)

11 And if you ever end up on a jury for a trial of someone who destroyed a Flock camera or any other onerous surveillance technology...you know what to do.

Posted by CBD at 12:00 PM Comments
---
"We find the defendant not guilty by reason of sanity!"

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:06 PM (FZ29D)

12 If all the criminals out there and CBD had nothing to hide, they wouldn't be upset about having their pitcher taken.

Posted by: Strike a Pose! at August 30, 2026 12:07 PM (JM9I6)

13 maps.deflock.org is the place to see where the cameras near you skulk. Only one close here looks like it is in the parking lot of the Dollar General on the other side of town. Seems to face away from town, too.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:07 PM (NcvvS)

14 How about this kind of snooping? From an article Pixy linked this morning:

"OpenAI has said the company uses software to scan conversations for signs of dangerous behavior and flag them to human reviewers."

https://tinyurl.com/yd58ukpc

They confided in ChatGPT. Their secrets ended up in court.

(a Yahoo article, which is a WaPo article)

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:07 PM (odBC9)

15 Speed bump on her road to the White House.

“A Huge Liability:” Democrat Candidates Avoid Kamala Harris as Midterms Approach

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 12:08 PM (ndZc7)

16 Flock Around, Find Out

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:10 PM (odBC9)

17 supporters pointing to abducted children recovered after a timely plate hit"

Bullshiite. The "abducted kid" crap has to be shut up. Hard. The "kids" on milk cartons was idiotic.

Posted by: man at August 30, 2026 12:10 PM (cGjQu)

18 They're getting serious now.

Florida Man Charged With Felony After Smashing Decoy Flock Camera
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 12:05 PM (ndZc7)
----
Seems like a case could be made for entrapment.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:10 PM (FZ29D)

19 As I have written here before, I expect no privacy while in public, except for what is it in my pocket, briefcase, backpack, or automobile.

If anyone misuses the technology, let them lose their badge, their pension, and their liberty.

Until States enact laws to severely punish the abusers, and reform the judiciary to enforce such things, fine, cut them down.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 30, 2026 12:11 PM (36x1j)

20 No, we need more surveillance. The KKK took my baby away!

Posted by: Joey From Queens at August 30, 2026 12:12 PM (JM9I6)

21
"You just want women to get raped by MAGA misogynists!!!"

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 30, 2026 12:12 PM (O0L8i)

22 The only way to preserve liberty and prosperity is to keep government limited in scope and powers - the whole point of a constitutional republic. The danger for MAGA is that too many seem to think that huge government can be good if only the led by a kind and benevolent businessman. History tells us that for every good Tsar there are 25 bad Tsars!

Posted by: Jalan at August 30, 2026 12:13 PM (uqfb2)

23 maps.deflock.org is the place to see where the cameras near you skulk. Only one close here looks like it is in the parking lot of the Dollar General on the other side of town. Seems to face away from town, too.
Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:07 PM (NcvvS)
----
According to the map, there are only three in my town. Two pointed at the Lowe's parking lot for some reason. The other pointing at a weird angle across an intersection near my house.

But there's a fourth camera (I think) downtown next to the library. It's not listed on the deflock map and looks like it's a temporary camera.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:13 PM (FZ29D)

24 Flock cameras are just another way of fleecing honest and law abiding citizens by preying on their fears.

You know what lives in a flock? Sheep.

Abolish flock cameras and stop being sheep.

Posted by: Fuck The Flock at August 30, 2026 12:14 PM (6VpiA)

25 Flock and other surveillance cameras don't prevent crime, they're almost totally reactive. They have their place, I suppose. I think of all the times they were used to track and ID terrorists after the fact, when they were "known wolves" who could have been stopped before their heinous acts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 30, 2026 12:15 PM (kpS4V)

26 7 I think COVID taught us a thing or two about "safety."
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at August 30, 2026 12:03 PM (2Ez/1)

One would hope! But when you look at comments under articles about Fauci--for example--some of the stuff that gets said is just beyond our wildest guesses. Like: "People who didn't get vaccinated exposed all of us to the virus." I just can't even.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:15 PM (odBC9)

27 maps.deflock.org is the place to see where the cameras near you skulk.

Where does their data come from? Is it community reported or is Flock obligated to release it?

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 12:16 PM (vTZFs)

28 But there's a fourth camera (I think) downtown next to the library. It's not listed on the deflock map and looks like it's a temporary camera.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Looks like the wheels are closing in and the walls are about to come off our "Perfessor". I'll be watching for the bodycam arrest.

Posted by: Der Volkischer Beobachter at August 30, 2026 12:16 PM (JM9I6)

29 I think there is an underlying motive for Flock Cameras. It, obviously, erodes "protected" rights afforded under the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those rights need to be diluted and (if possible) negated for the Globalization and removal of Sovereign Nations to be realized.

So, ask yourself a simple little question. How many of the venture capitalist groups associated with the research and development of Flock Cameras participate within the World Economic Forum?

To start, the primary investor in Flock is Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and they are listed as a participating organization in specific WEF initiatives.

Posted by: Orson at August 30, 2026 12:17 PM (dIske)

30 Thx CBD.
My leftist city has cameras around schools to slow traffic cams keep the "children" safe. Of course the city raking In cash from speeders.
A funnier thing happened however . Our county comptroller put a surveillance camera outside our county bus offices without anyone's knowledge.Our county executive is outraged. Two leftist white women yelling at each other

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 30, 2026 12:18 PM (EZWVc)

31 Harris isn't going to get anywhere close to the White House.
They learned that lesson already

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 12:20 PM (Ia/+0)

32 30 Our county comptroller put a surveillance camera outside our county bus offices without anyone's knowledge. Our county executive is outraged. Two leftist white women yelling at each other
Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 30, 2026 12:18 PM (EZWVc)

This is cool!

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:20 PM (odBC9)

33
Best of Breed for The Big Dummy at today's Cedar Rapids Kennel Association show, his third this weekend. The site is getting pasted by storms right now, so Variety Group judging is likely to be delayed.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 30, 2026 12:21 PM (O0L8i)

34 Like: "People who didn't get vaccinated exposed all of us to the virus." I just can't even.

People are weird. When confronted with evidence that they've been duped, they either turn on the previous position with a vengeance or double down with a vengeance. My hunch is that the responses correlate fairly well with the conservative/liberal spectrum.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 30, 2026 12:21 PM (vTZFs)

35 19 Until States enact laws to severely punish the abusers, and reform the judiciary to enforce such things, fine, cut them down.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 30, 2026 12:11 PM (36x1j)

At the price of a felony charge?

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:22 PM (odBC9)

36 "and they are listed as a participating organization in specific WEF initiatives."

Cui bono?

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 30, 2026 12:24 PM (36x1j)

37 18 They're getting serious now.

Florida Man Charged With Felony After Smashing Decoy Flock Camera
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Putting the Genie Back In the Bible at August 30, 2026 12:05 PM (ndZc7)
----
Seems like a case could be made for entrapment.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:10 PM (FZ29D)

a version of this article is at:

yahoo.com

https://tinyurl.com/ycyrxa6z

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:26 PM (odBC9)

38 "At the price of a felony charge?"

You should see the youtube video about how to do it?

Easy peasy, A balaclava is needed.

Do it in Winter.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 30, 2026 12:27 PM (36x1j)

39 >>Where does their data come from? Is it community reported or is Flock obligated to release it?

Crowdsourced, so community reported.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:28 PM (NcvvS)

40 If you have a cellphone, you’re already being tracked, recorded and spied upon. We gave up our privacy long ago.

The reason Seattle turned its cameras off wasn’t to protect citizens’ privacy. It was to protect illegals from being picked out by immigration enforcement. They even said so. Oh, illegals and people fleeing their red states to obtain late term abortions and “gender affirming care” for minors.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 12:28 PM (9SHqx)

41 To all of this surveillance I sound off with a loud and hearty "Flock You!".

Posted by: Chairborne!...Desk From Above! at August 30, 2026 12:28 PM (BN9Gq)

42 >>Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at August 30, 2026 12:21 PM (O0L8i)

Yay, The Big Dummy!

Posted by: Nazdar at August 30, 2026 12:30 PM (NcvvS)

43 Sadly I think that in a decade or two, we’re all going to be subject to surveillance by a net of dragonfly sized mobile devices that all interconnect with each other.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 30, 2026 12:30 PM (GWwCk)

44 If you really Want privacy, leave your phone at home and go for a hike in the backcountry. WAAAAAY in the backcountry.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 12:36 PM (9SHqx)

45
How's about we install multiple concentric rings of FlockYou cameras around the domiciles of CEO FlockYou and we all get to eyeball him and his 24/7?

He is asshoe.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 30, 2026 12:37 PM (trSL4)

46 Fascism wants control
A dog can make you lose your rights

Posted by: Paul at August 30, 2026 12:37 PM (tkK47)

47 Where is it written that flock video is admissible in any legal proceedings? It all could be CGI or AI. Where's the covenant of authenticity?

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 12:40 PM (nlLAo)

48 No science fiction writer can better what we are actually living through.

Posted by: Reforger at August 30, 2026 12:42 PM (G1F7l)

49 Set cameras up at every place votes are collected
Watch Leftists heads explode

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 12:43 PM (Ia/+0)

50 Flock CEO spoke out about accepting the new norm for lack of privacy, and himself was quickly doxxed.

Just as quickly his home disappeared off Google Earth. To to get that done as a normie.

Tech stands by its own, no?

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov at August 30, 2026 12:44 PM (bX16E)

51 Fun fact.

Flock has a 'whitelist' of politicians, CEOs, police, and 'connected' assholes whose license plates are unsearchable and cannot be tracked.

The very fact that capability exists tells you everything you need to know about this crap.

Normal citizens can be searched and stalked any time anybody feels like it. Insurance agents are already whistleblowing that their companies have access to Flock to look up your entire driving history to try to deny you claims.

But those politicians visiting their mistresses cannot be tracked.

Posted by: DudeAbiding at August 30, 2026 12:47 PM (setIA)

52
maps.deflock.org is the place to see where the cameras near you skulk.
----
According to the map, there are only three in my town. Two pointed at the Lowe's parking lot for some reason.

There are four of them in the Lowe's parking lot near me.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 30, 2026 12:48 PM (Cqx++)

53 Government agency doesn’t like the rules the bind them, hire a contractor to circumvent those rules.

Posted by: MH-53J at August 30, 2026 12:48 PM (9ZxcS)

54 snippet from a search for
flock camera felony

Investigations And Vandalism Of Flock Cameras Surge ...

Forbes
https://www.forbes.com › Business
3 days ago — People in Florida and Michigan have been charged with felonies for damaging the cameras, destruction of which can carry hefty penalties due to ...

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:48 PM (odBC9)

55 17 supporters pointing to abducted children recovered after a timely plate hit"

Bullshiite. The "abducted kid" crap has to be shut up. Hard. The "kids" on milk cartons was idiotic.
Posted by: man at August 30, 2026 12:10 PM (cGjQu)

Could we at least air tag all the dingoes. Just in case.

Posted by: Meryl Streep at August 30, 2026 12:48 PM (r7+Q7)

56 I got sent to a chain gang just for cutting the heads off of parking meters.

Posted by: Cool Hand Luke at August 30, 2026 12:52 PM (0vB2I)

57 I don’t like Flock cameras but I voluntarily use my smart phone and I suspect the thing spies on me more than Flock.

I’m afraid the toothpaste is out of the tube on ubiquitous surveillance

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at August 30, 2026 12:55 PM (M+uMR)

58 23 Two pointed at the Lowe's parking lot for some reason.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:13 PM (FZ29D)

Smash-and-grab retail theft, tracking the cars the stolen goods are put into?

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 12:56 PM (odBC9)

59 It’s a big club and you ain’t in it. As far back as the 60s I read somewhere, every phone call that originated or was placed overseas was recorded and the tapes stored in some huge gov warehouse in Maryland.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 12:57 PM (33HvQ)

60 Could we at least air tag all the dingoes. Just in case.
Posted by: Meryl Streep at August 30, 2026 12:48 PM (r7+Q7)

Maybe the dingoes ate your baby!

Posted by: LinusVanPelt at August 30, 2026 12:57 PM (M+uMR)

61 The various surveillance cameras are one thing that needs to be addressed. The other, potentially more serious one is the data they've been collecting for however many years they've been installed and who has access to it, for how long and for what reason.

I get the whole "no expectation of privacy in public." But if someone searches specifically for me, my wife, our vehicles across multiple jurisdictions on a whim... I think there's a problem.

That is exactly the type of abuse that has already been documented, but AFAIK, no specific rulings on whether it constitutes a legally defined search or not.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 12:57 PM (2Cry5)

62 Opposition to Flock cameras is going to run headlong into the First Amendment every time, and lose. You can't curtail Flock's operations without similarly curtailing Tesla's, Ring's and for that matter, a ton of journalistic and personal photography use cases.

The problem is not the tech, but the policies that attach to them. If you fix that, there's no reason to try and diminish First Amendment protected public photography freedoms.

Posted by: Shane McGowan's Liver at August 30, 2026 12:58 PM (f2WUk)

63 "No science fiction writer can better what we are actually living through."

Philip K. Dick was close.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 30, 2026 12:59 PM (36x1j)

64 I am sure all the wannabe Marxists, Maoists, and DSA members are positively salivating over this technology. Imagine how much more effective the Soviet KGB would have been had this system been available to them.

Posted by: George V at August 30, 2026 01:00 PM (HUbHH)

65 I think COVID taught us a thing or two about "safety."

During Covid, government was using Public Safety Cameras to provide streaming video into Computer Vision systems that had classifiers to single out people who were not complying with mask and "social distancing" mandates.

You can download these classifiers for your personal use.

You don't need Flock to ruin people's lives. The value of Flock is the ability to set up a monitoring station that is not connected to a power source and to network the cameras into an AI system with hundred thousand IoT cameras.

The problem isn't necessarily the cameras, its the underlying software supporting the surveillance.

Posted by: Community Notes at August 30, 2026 01:01 PM (a4flb)

66 I am Spartacus!

Posted by: RandomDave (if you can spare a bit, please click) at August 30, 2026 01:02 PM (aJQbY)

67 62 Opposition to Flock cameras is going to run headlong into the First Amendment every time, and lose. You can't curtail Flock's operations without similarly curtailing Tesla's, Ring's and for that matter, a ton of journalistic and personal photography use cases.

The problem is not the tech, but the policies that attach to them. If you fix that, there's no reason to try and diminish First Amendment protected public photography freedoms.
Posted by: Shane McGowan's Liver at August 30, 2026 12:58 PM (f2WUk)

Josh Hawley and Ron DeSantis are looking into legislation.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:02 PM (odBC9)

68 ...and please do not forget about the correlation of this data with other sources. Everybody who has your data, sells your data. And there are companies out there whose entire business is based around correlation of various publicly available data sources...then there's the fed.gov...what do you reckon they are doing? Do you think they cannot get access to license plate reader data?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:03 PM (Gqaa7)

69 All Your Data Belong To Us.

And the government can’t or won’t control or secure it. Guess Who has most, if not all, the crown jewels.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 01:04 PM (33HvQ)

70 underlying software supporting the surveillance.
_-_
Community Notes for the win.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:04 PM (Gqaa7)

71 Wouldn't doubt the Chinese are scooping up personal information faster than any other

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 01:05 PM (Ia/+0)

72 If it wasn't climate change, it must have been...

https://tinyurl.com/ms8f5jpb

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at August 30, 2026 01:06 PM (aI58f)

73 >>>So will sending SWAT teams into every house in America to look for drugs or "illegal" weapons, or taking the medical records of every American and analyzing them for possible illegality. Or sending forensic accountants into every business in America and checking their books.

A big ol' list of stuff like this could help sway people to be against the cameras. Where would they draw the line, they could be asked.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:07 PM (odBC9)

74 every phone call that originated or was placed overseas was recorded
_-_
Now fast-forward to today's technology. What are they doing now?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:07 PM (Gqaa7)

75 Deflocking sounds like what happens to a Japanese priest...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:07 PM (l3cgK)

76 "It's just a tool!!!"

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:08 PM (odBC9)

77 73 >>>So will sending SWAT teams into every house in America to look for drugs or "illegal" weapons, or taking the medical records of every American and analyzing them for possible illegality. Or sending forensic accountants into every business in America and checking their books.

A big ol' list of stuff like this could help sway people to be against the cameras. Where would they draw the line, they could be asked.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:07 PM (odBC9)

Surveillance for thee but not for me...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:08 PM (l3cgK)

78 Is Iran starting to crack?

https://tinyurl.com/bdfakn24

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at August 30, 2026 01:08 PM (aI58f)

79 76 "It's just a tool!!!"

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:08 PM (odBC9)

So are guns...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:09 PM (l3cgK)

80 >>>A backlash that began among left-leaning civil libertarians has spread to the populist Right

That doesn't happen just every day!

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:09 PM (odBC9)

81 80 >>>A backlash that began among left-leaning civil libertarians has spread to the populist Right

That doesn't happen just every day!

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:09 PM (odBC9)

What's the ACLU's (American Criminal Liberties Union) take on Flock?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:10 PM (l3cgK)

82 75 Deflocking sounds like what happens to a Japanese priest...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:07 PM (l3cgK)

or is that a Cantonese priest?

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at August 30, 2026 01:11 PM (l3cgK)

83 snippet

Fight Creepy ALPR Cameras

American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org › get-the-flock-out
4 days ago — Flock's ALPR cameras aren't like your normal traffic cameras. This surveillance technology records and tracks every car that comes into view

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:11 PM (odBC9)

84 >>>Government agency doesn’t like the rules the bind them, hire a contractor to circumvent those rules.

Posted by: MH-53J

>Like Fauci? The CIA? None of this is unprecedented. Now they're just putting it in your face. Teabagging is now the social norm.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 01:11 PM (nlLAo)

85 > It’s a big club and you ain’t in it. As far back as the 60s I read somewhere, every phone call that originated or was placed overseas was recorded and the tapes stored in some huge gov warehouse in Maryland.
--------------
NSA. And then they coded software that could search for certain words, phrases or specific names. By listening to the recordings.

Imagine what they're doing with all the digital data they're hoovering up.

It's no wonder they fund startups like Google, Facebook, etc. and have gear in every telecon junction in the country (and probably elsewhere.)

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 01:15 PM (2Cry5)

86 Not even SWAT, say have ICE go door to door looking for criminal illegals- to keep us safe. They gotta be for that, right? Right? Safety.

Posted by: Radar at August 30, 2026 01:15 PM (vVx7o)

87 Honestly, this is not in the top ten of things that keep me up at night. Perhaps my ambivalence makes me part of the problem.

I really don’t think I’m interesting enough for anyone to care or make note of what I do or who I talk to or what I say.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 01:15 PM (ybxgE)

88 Biden's Dog, a resounding yes. There is no activity in any of the ports. Money is being traced and shut off in thousands of accounts. Trade with China is at a standstill.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 30, 2026 01:16 PM (PbWRL)

89 ACLU

https://tinyurl.com/3y3vscsj

Flock provides one of the most widely used ALPR systems, but they aren't the only company trying to make a buck by spying on us.

Axon, Vigilant Solutions (a subsidiary of Motorola Solutions), Genetec, PlateSmart, Innova Systems, Rekor, ELSAG, Perceptics, and Jenoptik are a few of the other leading companies selling ALPRs to police, private companies, and others.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:16 PM (odBC9)

90 I'm also trying to understand why government has no money whatsoever to fill in pot holes, fix broken pavement, update the water and sanitation piping, but has endless amounts of money to violate the privacy of the livestock (aka resident) they are ruling over.

I was just trying to find basic water losses due to a city's failure to maintain the distribution system. No joy.

Zero insight on how a municipality is wasting water while at the same time they are criminalizing the failure of residents to micro-optimize their personal water use.

Flock seems to be the same thing. The municipality refuses to do the job they are expected to do in favor of setting up what appears to be an unconstitutional police state.

If they really cared about public safety, they wouldn't be releasing criminals back on the street nor be a sanctuary city/state for criminal illegal aliens.

So the public safety claim is pure bullshit since they aren't even doing the easy job of actually doing their job, but are expanding the role to harass citizens.

Posted by: Community Notes at August 30, 2026 01:17 PM (a4flb)

91 If, a big if, there was prosecution and either prison or deportation for criminals or illegal, then this could possibly be supported.

It is directed at law-abiding citizens, so a huge No.

Victor Davis Hanson saw this in CA 25 years ago.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 30, 2026 01:17 PM (u82oZ)

92 I get that I don't have an expectation of privacy in public places. My basic problem here is that I don't have an expectation that the fed.gov will not do evil with surveillance tools. Are any of these guys really on our side?

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:17 PM (Gqaa7)

93 90 I'm also trying to understand why government has no money whatsoever to fill in pot holes, fix broken pavement, update the water and sanitation piping, but has endless amounts of money to violate the privacy of the livestock (aka resident) they are ruling over.

I was just trying to find basic water losses due to a city's failure to maintain the distribution system. No joy.

Zero insight on how a municipality is wasting water while at the same time they are criminalizing the failure of residents to micro-optimize their personal water use.

Flock seems to be the same thing. The municipality refuses to do the job they are expected to do in favor of setting up what appears to be an unconstitutional police state.

If they really cared about public safety, they wouldn't be releasing criminals back on the street nor be a sanctuary city/state for criminal illegal aliens.

So the public safety claim is pure bullshit since they aren't even doing the easy job of actually doing their job, but are expanding the role to harass citizens.
Posted by: Community Notes at August 30, 2026 01:17 PM (a4flb)

After they expropriate the property of the Bad People, they'll have money to fix potholes.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:19 PM (odBC9)

94 1984.

Posted by: Eromero at August 30, 2026 01:20 PM (mkztW)

95 Big Brother is watching you.

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:21 PM (odBC9)

96
I really don’t think I’m interesting enough for anyone to care or make note of what I do or who I talk to or what I say.
Posted by: nurse ratched

The otters are listening.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 30, 2026 01:22 PM (Cqx++)

97 And if you ever end up on a jury for a trial of someone who destroyed a Flock camera or any other onerous surveillance technology...you know what to do.

Posted by CBD at 12:00 PM Comments
---
"We find the defendant not guilty by reason of sanity!"

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 30, 2026 12:06 PM (FZ29D)

"We find the defendant not guilty because you're frigging jerkoffs"

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at August 30, 2026 01:22 PM (S41Gd)

98 OT:

A Canadian academic at the University of Waterloo:

Q: As a founding scholar in trans philosophy, tell us about your research and community engagement.

A: When I first started doing what came to be known as "trans philosophy" I didn't have a method expressly formulated in my mind. I was simply motivated by this thought: "The current ways of making sense of my trans experiences don't work. But I'm a smart woman. Why don't I try to figure it out on my own?" It wasn't until trans philosophy began to take off that I could turn around and really say, "Ok. So, that's what I was doing."

Can't imagine why academia is collapsing...

Posted by: The ARC of History! at August 30, 2026 01:22 PM (aD4fx)

99 Imagine if the government did their job, their statutory requirements and say, decided illegal aliens were not going to be allowed at the borders or in the Zone of the Interior.

All of the considerable surveillance apparatus arrayed against crime and trafficking illegal drugs, smuggling, etc.

Remember there are no coincidences in government. If there are 50 or 100 million illegal aliens in your country, somebody wants it that way.

One can only conclude, therefore, that all this stuff is going to used for someone else. You get one guess

Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 01:22 PM (33HvQ)

100 100

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:22 PM (odBC9)

101 The otters are listening.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr

I love them. Did you know sea otters hold hands while they sleep?

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 01:23 PM (ybxgE)

102

Posted by: The ARC of History! at August 30, 2026 01:23 PM (aD4fx)

103 No way, really?

>>@R_H_Ebright
·
4h
>>"Newly disclosed documents reveal that Fauci's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) had a formal institutional partnership with the CIA, one that provided cover for the agency's biological-threat research."

Posted by: JackStraw at August 30, 2026 01:24 PM (viF8m)

104 The problem is not the tech, but the policies that attach to them. If you fix that, there's no reason to try and diminish First Amendment protected public photography freedoms.
Posted by: Shane McGowan's Liver

Except the problem isn't photography. It's the systematic data collection and cross-referencing that creates a permanent record of every thing about a person. This isn't a matter of 'who just walked down this alleyway.' It's a system that is telling the cops and assorted clients, 'That's Fred Johnson, here's his phone number, his past 100 calls, and this script predicts he is going to see Jane Haller at 5:05pm tonight.'

It's literally creating a index of everyone's lives, not just a f'ing photo album. It will be the basis for a social credit system if it isn't already.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 30, 2026 01:24 PM (diia5)

105 You may not be interested in the borg, but the borg is interested in you.

Posted by: Eromero at August 30, 2026 01:25 PM (mkztW)

106 >>> Are any of these guys really on our side?

Posted by: Don in SoCo

>No. If they were, every citizen in America would be a landowner and have his own home.

Right now, you qualify as a citizen if you pay taxes. Pretty much it.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 01:25 PM (nlLAo)

107 I really don’t think I’m interesting enough for anyone to care or make note of what I do or who I talk to or what I say.
Posted by: nurse ratched
_-_
...until they change the rules to say what you normally do is prohibited. The knowledge you are being monitored should be sifficient to keep from getting "outside your lane".

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:27 PM (Gqaa7)

108 They all do that

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at August 30, 2026 01:29 PM (wxsGM)

109 What I normally do is prohibited?

Like going to the range or attending Latin Mass?

They can come and take my guns and my Eucharist over my dead body.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 01:30 PM (C8BIZ)

110 It's true. all this monitoring, reporting, surveilling was once a condition of parole or probation, conditions imposed after court proceedings. Look what they call the courts now in many cases.

Posted by: Hokey Pokey at August 30, 2026 01:32 PM (wxsGM)

111 Amen to that, CBD. Have people so soon forgotten the monumental partisan abuse of the law manifested by government agencies during, just to pick something at random, the Biden administration?

Posted by: Paco at August 30, 2026 01:32 PM (2L+MU)

112 They can come and take my guns and my Eucharist over my dead body.
_-_
I would fear to try it.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:33 PM (Gqaa7)

113 As far back as the 60s I read somewhere, every phone call that originated or was placed overseas was recorded and the tapes stored in some huge gov warehouse in Maryland.
Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 12:57 PM (33HvQ)

Ahhhh, I've seen that place in a movie, or something. What was the movie called, again? *thinking*thinking*

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 30, 2026 01:34 PM (hmYU4)

114 I really don’t think I’m interesting enough for anyone to care or make note of what I do or who I talk to or what I say.
Posted by: nurse ratched

Trust me you are interesting to any number of companies and unknown number of criminal organizations. You think having a false strike on your credit report is a nightmare? You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 30, 2026 01:35 PM (diia5)

115
Ahhhh, I've seen that place in a movie, or something. What was the movie called, again? *thinking*thinking*
Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy

The President's Analyst

www.imdb.com/title/tt0062153

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 30, 2026 01:36 PM (Cqx++)

116 False strike affecting you Social Credit Score...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:37 PM (Gqaa7)

117
Flock CEO spoke out about accepting the new norm for lack of privacy, and himself was quickly doxxed.
Just as quickly his home disappeared off Google Earth. To to get that done as a normie.
Tech stands by its own, no?
Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov

Here's how to do that for your own house.
Is.gd refused to shorten this, BTW. Remove the carriage returns.

https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/
how-to-stop-google-maps-from-
displaying-your-home-to-strangers

Posted by: BifBewalski - at August 30, 2026 01:37 PM (QVmho)

118 Amen to that, CBD. Have people so soon forgotten the monumental partisan abuse of the law manifested by government agencies during, just to pick something at random, the Biden administration?
Posted by: Paco

Memory of a goldfish.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 30, 2026 01:37 PM (QovLg)

119 Imagine being the child or relative of someone who either is, or was, part of the so-called Intelligence Community during the 60's, 70's or 80's.

You might not have been privy to state secrets, but you probably do have some insights that others might not. Or pieced together certain things/events that cut across the grain of publicly released info.

*shrugs*

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 01:39 PM (2Cry5)

120 They can come and take my guns and my Eucharist over my dead body.
Posted by: nurse ratched at August 30, 2026 01:30 PM (C8BIZ)

Your terms are acceptablel.

Posted by: Your local government and PD at August 30, 2026 01:40 PM (hmYU4)

121 Acceptable. We government types have spelling issues.

Posted by: Your local government and PD at August 30, 2026 01:41 PM (hmYU4)

122 We don't have any problem finding criminals really.

The issue is we don't throw them in prison/execute them.

Every horrible crime you see in the news is by someone with a dozen priors...

Posted by: 18-1 at August 30, 2026 01:41 PM (sKqQm)

123 > Here's how to do that for your own house.
-----------
In every "street view" photo of where my house is, you can't see it due to all the trees, tall grass, weeds, etc. that are along the road.

The house sits about 1/4 mile off that road, up a hill.

The satellite view however....

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 01:42 PM (2Cry5)

124 I was watching a video by a left leaning comedy group and the skit was premised on people seeing charismatic leaders and following them even though they were spewing word salads.

And they capped it with a blue haired woman explaining that it feels good to get your identify from being part of a group even if that group is organized around something absurd.

And...yes. Yes that's exactly true. Now let's talk about "the empathetic", trannies, and those that "care about the earth"

Posted by: 18-1 at August 30, 2026 01:44 PM (sKqQm)

125 >>As far back as the 60s I read somewhere, every phone call that originated or was placed overseas was recorded and the tapes stored in some huge gov warehouse in Maryland.

During WWI, the US created an intelligence sharing agreement to share intel about the Axis powers. Eventually, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were included and that was the birth of Five Eyes, an intel sharing group that monitored things like communist uprisings in Latin America and other threats to the west.

From that group we got Project Echelon. It was originally setup to spy on communications of the Soviet Union and her allies. And just as color revolutions were eventually turned on us, so was Echelon.

At every internet interconnect and peering location around the US the NSA has listening stations. The feds couldn't have designed a better tool for monitoring communications so they helped create this one. The feds have so many was of monitoring us the Flock cameras seem almost redundant. The amount of benefit they provide is way outweighed by the loss of privacy.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 30, 2026 01:44 PM (viF8m)

126 the US and the UK created

Posted by: JackStraw at August 30, 2026 01:45 PM (viF8m)

127 Just look at as gain-of-function beyond the constitution. Who signed up for this, voted for it? The royals from the UK?

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 01:45 PM (nlLAo)

128
Five Eyes

US
UK
Canada
Australia
New Zealand

Posted by: m at August 30, 2026 01:49 PM (odBC9)

129 > At every internet interconnect and peering location around the US the NSA has listening stations. The feds couldn't have designed a better tool for monitoring communications so they helped create this one. The feds have so many was of monitoring us the Flock cameras seem almost redundant. The amount of benefit they provide is way outweighed by the loss of privacy.
Posted by: JackStraw
------------
Remember a guy named Seymore Cray? He had this idea, a computer unlike anything seen before. A certain intelligence agency parked some money in his firm and had them build "stuff" that sort of helped out the data aggregation back in the 70's and 80's.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 01:50 PM (2Cry5)

130 I'm in favor of installing Flock cameras in every Fed, state and local government office space. Then We The People can keep an eye on you, the hired help.

Posted by: Donny Brook at August 30, 2026 01:51 PM (Dc1Hd)

131 What evil lurks in the hearts of men?

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 01:52 PM (Ia/+0)

132 Excellent posting, CBD! There should be millions of signs posted that say 'GET THE FLOCK OUT OF HERE!' … but then, that's just me …

Posted by: Dr_No at August 30, 2026 01:53 PM (ayRl+)

133 >>Remember a guy named Seymore Cray? He had this idea, a computer unlike anything seen before. A certain intelligence agency parked some money in his firm and had them build "stuff" that sort of helped out the data aggregation back in the 70's and 80's.

That same intel agency gave money to a couple data scientists at Standford named Segey Brin and Larry Page to help them develop their search technology. It became Google.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 30, 2026 01:54 PM (viF8m)

134 The amount of benefit they provide ijs way outweighed by the loss of privacy.
_-_
Right. There were good reasons that JFK had the attitude he did.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 30, 2026 01:55 PM (Gqaa7)

135 I worked in the leg biz, and I know that it was easy to use their database to check on somebody you were dating, for instance, so this would be even worse.

And what's the point of finding more criminals if the judges and lawmakers aren't going to keep them in jail? That's where the real problem is.

Posted by: Random PJ at August 30, 2026 01:55 PM (+jscL)

136 Just another misappropriation and misallocation of taxpayers dollars. A clear sign we freely pay too much taxes. Stupid shit like this should be audited and cut from the budget.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 01:56 PM (nlLAo)

137 The satellite view however....

I accidentally found a solution for that. Part of my roof is flat, and that created some problems. When I added a lot of insulation and a rubber roof, I worked in a layer of that thin metallized Mylar they use for 'survival blankets,' to reflect some of the solar radiation. There was also an improved venting scheme.

It really worked. The natural temperature of the second story went down ten degrees. The mylar is like a radar target, but also acts like a Faraday cage. Sensors cannot look through it. So, they can always find the house, but they can't tell what's going on in there.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at August 30, 2026 01:56 PM (zdLoL)

138 Just another misappropriation and misallocation of taxpayers dollars. A clear sign we freely pay too much taxes. Stupid shit like this should be audited and cut from the budget.

Back when NYS sent an assault squad to kill Peanut the Squirrel I pointed out if NYS had enough money to pay to have a team on the ready to rapidly execute a squirrel the state budget could easily and immediately be cut by at least half.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 30, 2026 01:58 PM (sKqQm)

139 The first computers were used to make artillery tables, later used to crunch numbers for the complex hydrogen bomb modeling.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 01:59 PM (33HvQ)

140 1ST WORLD NOOD

Posted by: Skip at August 30, 2026 02:00 PM (Ia/+0)

141 worked in the leg biz, and I know that it was easy to use their database to check on somebody you were dating, for instance,
——-

Gordon Liddy allowed in his autobiography that he performed an F.B.I. background check on the woman who became his wife. I guess she must have passed.

Posted by: Common Tater at August 30, 2026 02:01 PM (33HvQ)

142 >>> Sensors cannot look through it. So, they can always find the house, but they can't tell what's going on in there.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver

>So when you're banging the governor's wife they can't see you when you're busting a nut? Sweet.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at August 30, 2026 02:01 PM (nlLAo)

143 There used to be a bit of delineation between the CIA and the NSA. Both are intelligence agencies. Beyond the purview each has, the CIA seemed to have focused on the human aspect of intel work while the NSA focused on the electronic medium.

Good thing they're not exactly cooperative with each other. Most of the time.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 30, 2026 02:03 PM (2Cry5)

144 124 I was watching a video by a left leaning comedy group and the skit was premised on people seeing charismatic leaders and following them even though they were spewing word salads.

And they capped it with a blue haired woman explaining that it feels good to get your identify from being part of a group even if that group is organized around something absurd.

And...yes. Yes that's exactly true. Now let's talk about "the empathetic", trannies, and those that "care about the earth"
Posted by: 18-1

Go Time.
LET'S GO BRANDON
BELIEVE IN HARVEY DENT.

...that Hotel in Moscow, Putin Gets to take Europe by Force, Trump gets Greenland, FREEPORT/Cuba and the 3Seas Accord.

bonus:
Proven Gulf/ASW clearing the mines means Tiawan Strait unminable, China vulnerable to Malaca blockade. Opportunity: 99 year Taiwan Hong/Kong-like lease, strait becomes demilitarized zone in exchange for shared mineral rights (methyl hydrate) and first underwater mining and perhaps cities beneath the sea with American Underseas technology.

Alternative:
Ceasless forWARd: vulnerability to Russian Poseidon/Kanyon deep water UUV, and next get Chinese HSGV with capabilities of X-20 Dyna-soar....
deployable munition

Posted by: MANFRED the Heat Seeking OBOE at August 30, 2026 02:03 PM (nkEiq)

145 'Safety' was the reason given for putting cameras all over London. Funny how when it didn't work, they didn't take the cameras down. Almost like the safety rhetoric was just sales pitch and rationalization for a confidence scheme, and the public were the marks!

Locks Not Flocks
Lifers Not Cameras
Prisons Not Panopticons

Bring back "three strikes," and leave the Normies alone!

Posted by: SciVo at August 30, 2026 02:03 PM (ke3zm)

146 Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Posted by: G. Washington at August 30, 2026 02:13 PM (4NO2D)

147 145 'Safety' was the reason given for putting cameras all over London. Funny how when it didn't work, they didn't take the cameras down. Almost like the safety rhetoric was just sales pitch and rationalization for a confidence scheme, and the public were the marks!

Locks Not Flocks
Lifers Not Cameras
Prisons Not Panopticons

Bring back "three strikes," and leave the Normies alone!
Posted by: SciVo

When the Truth becomes a Liability ALL NORMAL People become the enemy.

Indict Brennan -- colby canoe's away!
Fear of exposure when he rats them out will create a PPV worthy display of the Deep State detargeting normal people and opening fire on each other to be "prove" their innocent with after the fact parallel construction.

https://tinyurl.com/forWARd-WhoRtheTargets
https://tinyurl.com/forWARd-ctHARRIS19takedown
Not One Battle after Another; One LIB after Another.

It takes a Villan to tell us the truth:

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." -- ctHILLARY'04

Posted by: MANFRED the Heat Seeking OBOE at August 30, 2026 02:13 PM (PwL0Y)

148 There are cameras all over our college campus. Plus, it's a no-cash campus. You can't even buy a coffee in the student union with cash.

Posted by: Emmie, celebrating 250 years of God's grace at August 30, 2026 02:21 PM (OlzlW)

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