this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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311
US Cities Cancel 50+ Flock Surveillance Contracts Amid Public Backlash (townflex.com)
submitted 14 hours ago by FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50445196

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[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Did you read the article provided?

Even a police officer cannot just follow someone around all day every day, without reasonable articulable suspicion. They would also be guilty of harassment and/or criminal stalking.

Again, it's not that a camera is recording that's the problem. It's the infrastructure behind those cameras that aggregate all the data into a single database which requires no cause to search. Anyone with a badge/title can track anyone throughout the whole country, with no probable cause, no warrant, and no oversight. They don't even have to say why they're searching the system.

An ex partner fleeing an abusive boyfriend/girlfriend that happens to be a police officer (or that has a police officer buddy) can and will be hunted down by that ex, and nobody will know until it's too late. This system directly puts people in danger.

at least 50 documented cases across the United States in which law enforcement officers have been charged with or accused of misusing AI-powered automated license plate reader systems to conduct unauthorized surveillance of intimate partners, ex-partners, or women they wanted to meet. In 26 of those cases, prosecutors and investigators concluded that officers used the technology specifically to spy on wives, girlfriends, former partners, their exes' new partners, or women they sought to approach.

These systems also get used by government agencies (on both sides of the spectrum) to track anyone that disagrees with their political stance, fishing for ways to harass, jail, or run them out of town/state. Governments given this type of power stop being democracies and become dictatorships; because anyone that could or would challenge them get hunted down.

I see nothing wrong with what you're doing in public being available to law enforcement.

It wouldn't be a problem if every person with access to this system was 100% honest and just; but thats simply not the reality of the world. There are ALWAYS people that will abuse these types of tools for evil purposes. That's why we have a court system instead of just making every police officer 'judge, jury, and executioner'.

Flock removes the court system and puts all the power in every single officers hands. That is NOT a good thing.

'Every police officer has good intentions' is a fantasy. If you can't see that, you've spent way too much time inside.