Flock is getting a lot of PR for being used to track down the shooter at Brown University and MIT. Thankfully, it’s not all positive PR. I’ve seen a couple newsoutlets and even CNN bring up the issue of mass surveillance and that some towns have canceled or blocked Flock contracts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for them.
But Flock’s CEO, Garrett Langley, says that he started Flock to solve crimes. CNN asked him about the surveillance concerns, and he said (I captured this from the screen) …
“If they’re worried about privacy, a license plate reader is the dumbest way to do surveillance. You have a cell phone. A cell phone knows your exact location at all times. Google has that location and Apple has that location and AT&T has that location. What people are really concerned about is a trust issue. If you don’t trust law enforcement to do their job, that’s actually what you’re concerned about. And I’m not going to help people get over that.”
FYI, Flock tracks cars by more than just their plate numbers. It can use make, model, color and even damage and bumper stickers. I believe that was used in this case, as well.
I believe the CEO is linked with Marc Andreessen if I am not mistaken. And we know how terrible he and his work is.
Well, this is certainly true given the video we can see when that cop came over to that woman’s house who was forced to prove her innocence instead of the cops proving she is guilty.
What a prick. “Oh I didn’t mean that to happen” - and yet it does. You are to blame for bad consequences of your actions.
Mark my words, once this tech is “perfected” in the US, it will make billions when they decide to export this abroad.
Another aspect of this investigation that’s getting a lot of attention is the lack of cameras in the Engineering building at Brown, where the shooting occurred. The claim is that there are 1200 cameras on Brown’s campus but “only” two in the Engineering building. I haven’t heard any push back on this aspect of mass surveillance and in fact just about everyone - even local reporters at the press conference - demanding more cameras, asking how it could be that there weren’t cameras everywhere on campus.
I wonder if any of these cameras (at Brown) are using facial recognition (or if they will be using it after this incident).
Langley is mostly correct. Our cell phones can be used to track us by Google, Apple, AT&T. However, I can choose to leave that cell phone at home. And even if we don’t leave it at home, using a warrant less geo-fence to track people has been deemed unlawful.
Flock’s ALPRs are becoming so proliferate that we cannot easily choose to avoid being tracked in our cars. While we may opt to not use a car, the Flock cameras may soon (some say it already does) learn to track pedestrians or bicyclists.
I do trust most law enforcement officials to do their job… but not all of them. new This is the reason that we have the fourth amendment to our Constitution. This is the reason that most wear body cameras. They need to be held to account for the powers that they have been given. But, giving law enforcement access to Flock ALPRs seems to navigate around that accountability.
I would also say that it’s bad that Google and Apple and AT&T know everywhere I’m going more than Flock does. I don’t want Flock to do it, and I don’t want them to do it either.
Even when we make the tradeoff decisions on what technology we will deal with in order to function in society, it is still totally reasonable to choose limits on what we do or don’t use, what is or is not tracked. Even if I am ok with Google and Apple and AT&T tracking, it doesn’t give you the right to also track me! You are not entitled to surveillance.
Spot on. We can totally opt out of Google, Apple, and AT&T tracking by not using their products. How can I opt out of Flock surveillance?
By the way, the argument that your evil product or service is okay because other evil companies are doing a the same evil thing just doesn’t legitimize your evilness.
