Cities ditch Flock, replace with Axon license-plate readers
Flock has justifiably received tons of outrage, but Axon (and a bunch of other companies) are also purveyors of mass surveillance. Canceling a Flock contract and replacing it with an Axon one is just changing your flavor of authoritarianism.
Hypervisible 87Or, if you prefer a different analogy. bsky.app/profile/hype...
Mark12I don’t know how they do surveillance in other countries but I really think letting private companies do it and then buying the data from them is the worst possible choice.
Mgindmv6And #axon is an Israeli surveillance company in which the adjusticated rapist-in-chief is heavily invested👇
WholeGrains3The surveillance state IS NOT about keeping us safe. It’s about keeping us contained.
Modhail2"Due to public complaints, we will be changing to another flavour of boot polish."
MinisterofDOOM1A point that is probably significant is that Axon is also the manufacturer of some of the most widespread police bodycam models. Imagine a bizarre court case with Axon cameras providing evidence for both prosecution and defense, and Axon just winning either way.
Anthony Moser447this is why "it doesn't even work!!!" arguments are bad. you're just inviting them to find another vendor stop demanding sharper knives
Dr. Damien P. Williams has to go the way his blood beats359Way too many people focusing on the names on the tools and not the sociotechnical, sociopolitical, and technopolitical systems and frameworks underlying their design, deployment, justification, and use.
rainy jorbo ☔️73aside from surveillance tech, axon also invented the concept of “excited delirium” to cover up the fact that cops kept killing people with their supposedly “non leathal” tasers. axon is one of the most evil companies in america
David Forbes43This is exactly what Asheville city hall did, and people here accurately identified it as just the same evil under a different name.
Deke is 📚back in the book fort📚29As a reminder, even if your city gets rid of Flock (whether they switch to Axon or not,) there are still Flock cameras in your community that are put there by private businesses (hello, Home Depot and Lowes!) HOAs and other entities.
Some Random Susan29Axon was evil long before Flock was a twinkle in anyone’s eye
Kris Giere4Mass surveillance is bad no matter who the vendor is. Have we learned nothing from SciFi?
New from 404 Media: around the country, cities are ditching Flock. But in many cases, immediately replacing Flock with Axon cameras. These clamp to an existing streetlamp so harder to spot. May be harder for public to know what cops are using the cameras for www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
Joseph Cox51One huge reason cities are replacing Flock with Axon is because of Flock's national network. This is what lets a cop in Texas lookup plates in California, or wherever. We've seen this used for ICE/to track woman who got abortion. Axon simply has no national network www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
Mr. Indelible Stain10This gives the same exact energy as Blackwater changing their name every time they had a PR disaster.
Foxtrot Tango6I think the best possible use for public surveillance cameras is target practice.
Luke4New teenage job unlocked... Face cover and a bag of rocks... $50 worth of BTC sent directly to you every camera destroyed... Easy way to fight back and reclaim your privacy.
Impeach[REDACTED]🇺🇸🆘🌎2Is Big Bro Flucking you: deflock.org
shawn-unsimulated.bsky.social1Ahhh, I get it. As long as the surveillance is invisible, the public won’t mind. I don’t think the majority of people are that stupid, but I guess we’re gonna find out.
Tim Dickinson39404 is doing the lord's work tracking the new AI surveilance web
Sanho Tree20They’re sweeping the problem under the rug — or more accurately, hiding it in a lamppost.
Dave Infante19Flock has been a gift to organizers because it is led by uncharismatic rake-steppers who say comic-book villain shit in public and take money from Peter Thiel. Other ALPR firms are not so foolish.
Bailey McCann14“We are taking a stand … by replacing the police state tools with brands you don’t know.” Is such a perfect encapsulation of being governed by institutions and people that have nothing but open contempt for their constituents
jake9i wonder how much copper, gold and other rare earth metals are in these ones
daniel sieradski9nice to see 404 pick up a central current story about syracuse
norfölkology3A warrantless surveillance state by any other name would smell as foul
Bon·is·Bored3So treat them exactly like Flock cameras ✌️
Rich Jackman3Flock and Axon. 404 Media is a good source for this whole issue: bsky.app/profile/jose...
🧿kika🧿2in my local fb chat group, they’re already planning opposition to a proposal to install a county-wide Axon system, and ban ALPRs altogether 👍
NEW: Rather than get rid of ALPR cameras entirely after backlash to Flock, many cities and towns are switching to Axon, whose cameras can be mounted to an existing streetlamp, helping them blend into their surroundings.
Demilente25It seems like cities missed the point of the backlash. Next it's time to replace a lot of mayors and council members.
Lemongrasshopper12Instead of understanding their constituents concerns about mass surveillance, many cities switch to a more discreet system whose cameras are harder for them to identify. 😒
Rebecca Rauber10Dear Civic Leaders: It’s not that we hate Flock specifically. We hate the surveillance state. Get it? Signed, The Citizenry
meatmobile6Cities arent going to be happy when people just start cutting down streetlamps.
Baja Arizona. We fight on.5Kind of like trading syphilis for gonorrhea IMHO.
Catzgalore19535You think they won't saw down a lightpole?
Jake Williams12The cities that buy into this technology are either stupid or corrupt AF.
Andrew Robbins9oh neat it got worse
El Jefe Gone Dark Security2I used to bullseye Womp rats in my T16 back home, they're not much bigger than 20 centimeters.
Blank Frank2I said this would happen. Innumerable people replied, "Not for months, if not years." Again, people are foolishly surprised with the speed of fascism; a big reason why everyone's going to be surprised to learn how many people have actually been killed in the death camps.
The cameras use artificial intelligence to scan license plates, bumper stickers and makes and models of cars to compile all sorts of data in an instant. Across U.S. law enforcement agencies, these camera’s are scanning billions of licenses plates a month.
pseudo-ersatz1The system uses heavily FLAWED ai that gives false reports and mistaken stolen vehicle alerts, while the access to the information the system provides is being constantly misused. Stop reporting the police propaganda without researching the validity of their claims. Flock is a danger to the public.
Löre Wren 🇨🇦1I vaguely remember in the distant past when the Chinese surveillance state was something to be scorned.
peelercitygirl.bsky.social1"Across U.S. law enforcement agencies, these camera’s are scanning billions of licenses plates a month to stalk their exes" -finished that last sentence for ya.
🚨 53 cities have replaced their Flock AI surveillance cameras with new hidden cameras made by Axon. What is going on here?! 🧐 James Li 👇 🤬🤬🤬
Nurse Linda Linda Linda 💙💙💙2It's like The Handmaid's Tale mixed with some 1984, Minority Report, Enemy of the State, & The Lives of Others. With Trump's Gestapo on the prowl & the concentration of IT/AI & media to the few, I think we're literally a fascist surveillance state run by true believers. Placate the sheeple. Get...
Z.H. He1swapping one vendor's ALPR network for another's isn't a fix, it's a procurement cycle. what strikes me is "hidden" being the upgrade feature. the visible camera at least invites an argument at a city council meeting. this version skips the argument entirely.