Flock cameras

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

find pets".  Those private company cameras

Yes, the one-size-fits-all argument.  All cameras are the same.  Would that include daguerreotypes?  The passenger pigeon model?

[HiloJulie]

The needs of the many...

I prefer to think of it as more of a “burning man” argument.  Feel the burn. Up in flames.

Being very clear as the PunaWeb "wordsmithers" love to chop up and distort points being made, but at its present status, I would without any hesitation say that I am flat out against Flock cameras.

In as much as its value can be considerable on catching the worst of the worst without any doubt, but if you have not read the linked news article the Dude posted about how good Dallas uses its Flock cameras, it says, and I quote:

About 1,900 Dallas police officers and city employees have approved access to 684 Flock cameras scattered around the city.

Dallas has about 3,400 sworn police officers. So, 56% of the force has access to the Flock camera data. That, in and of itself is just flat-out insanity. If access to the stored Flock camera data can't be regulated and required to follow the law around probable cause and a duly issued search warrant, then I'm thinking it should be two, maybe three highest ranking officers at the most who have access. 

Then, if you take the news link I posted about the Lufkin, TX officer who got fired after searching his ex-girlfriend's license plate over 10,000 times, one has to ask why didn't alarm bells go off after say maybe 10 searches?? 

At any event, there can be a priceless benefit from the potential of Flock cameras. Allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry with a badge, apparently quite a few of them with obsessions of ex-lovers or chasing down those suspected of getting medial services in another State are just as bad as those who support unbridled and unlimited access to Flock camera data to be used to simply harass, intimidate and possibly arrest someone, or collect that 10,000-dollar bounty.

Oh, one observation on the use of Flock cameras, they did play a big role in finally getting that Milo guy deported once and for all! But then again, the rule of law and due process played no part in that whatsoever.

[Obie]

A success story about flock cameras being used correctly. I buy gas at this station .
The transit van was stolen from a funeral home about 30 miles from where the armed robbery took place,

VEHICLE AND SUSPECT FOUND
near Imperial Pennsylvania
Per The Harrison County Sheriff's Department
"In the morning hours of August 31, 2026 deputies responded to an armed robbery at the Circle K in the Village of Scio, Harrison County.
A Circle K employee reported that a male entered the store, held him at gunpoint, and demanded money from the cash register. The employee further reported that the suspect fled the scene in a dark-colored, transit-style van.
While investigating the robbery, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office was advised by dispatch of a stolen vehicle from Tuscarawas County that matched the description of the vehicle used in the robbery.
Utilizing Flock Safety License Plate Reader cameras, deputies were able to locate the suspect vehicle in western Pennsylvania near Imperial. With the assistance of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Allegany County Police Department, the suspect and vehicle were apprehended a few hours after the robbery.

[kalakoa]

Millions and millions of people will be scanned by Flock, every day, to help protect each other.

From ex-girlfriends, and debt collectors... Feel safer yet, citizen?

[MyManao]

Millions and millions of people will be scanned by Flock, every day, to help protect each other.

When FB showed up it was like, how cool, I can stay in touch with the family, the kids. But by the 2016 election cycle their algorithms that not only included the aggregate of all the the posts and the photos of their users, but statistical analysis of their personalities coupled with predictive modeling and the best we’ve learned from a lifetime of commercialization on just what and how and when to suggest whatever and bingo a presidency was sold to the highest bidder.. targeted advertising time on FB gets results.

And now, add to FB’s files one’s location known by their phone’s IP#, coupled with their buying habits cataloged with bluetooth scanners and credit card receipts in retail outlets, their health statistics recorded with wearables, and facial recognition in transit hubs, their automobiles location with Flock tied together with every CCD camera and Ring like eyes, all folded in with their government stats, and the mundane data smart devices such as your refrigerator spits out, and the glories of massive data centers to house and sort through all that only begins to tap into the potential of those algorithms developed over a lifetime of nudging people to buy one product over another. And, bingo, we’re all just fodder for a fucking machine.

Global warming is real. The impacts are everywhere. And the real threat, the massive loss of crops, the disruptions of the supply chain, shortages of fuel, all loom heavy over a population so digitally known that the logical outgrowth of what some suggest is for the welfare of those in need will become the tool with which to dictate what one can and can not do. Todays there’s only so much water, you can eat only so many ounces of meat, have only so many gallons of or hours on the charger. You can, or cannot go to.. you must do this and you cannot do that. 

All for the good of us all.

There was a reason George Orwell’s 1984 was required reading in my 8th grade English class. Though back then, long before ’84, it was interesting to watch folks fixate on the date. But who could blame them, they had no comprehension of the digital world.. no way to fathom how George's vision could manifest. And yet here we are, Heinlein's World as Myth (Pantheistic Solipsism) in all its glory, manifest.

To say Flock is for the good of the many, and suggest that it’s acceptable to sacrifice the good of the few in exchange for its benefits is to say control over the masses, not the betterment of our humanity, is the goal. Which is the same as was Hitler’s when he created a system of concentration camps and exterminated those he deemed inferior. There’s no difference. Accept now ICE agents, soon to be followed by robots, will do the dirty work.

Third Reich, Fourth Reich, what's in a name, eh brother ‘Tang?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

FB’s files one’s location known by their phone’s IP#, coupled with their buying habits

I heard a segment on Here and Now while listening to Hawaii Public Radio yesterday morning.  The guest attempted to get records on his personal data from 100 companies.  One example was for his McDonalds Loyalty Program.  Anyone here get the deals at our local McDonalds in Pahoa or Keaau or Hilo? 

McDonald’s was one of a few that complied with his request.  They provided over 500 pages of data, even including what the algorithm thought he would order next.  500 pages for hamburger. 

Think about what a government agency might collect with access to your statistics, purchases, video…. And then what government AI could do with that data.  What if for instance the government engaged in activities you didn’t agree with, and they found out, or didn’t like the way you phrased a post, or made a donation they didn’t like, nothing illegal but they were vindictive and had numerous ways to make your life difficult…

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2026/08/...ata-access

Perhaps in the future when Amazon Drone Delivery makes it out here to the jungle, not only will you get fast speedy service, but your data will be sold to other interested parties.  “Dear homeowner, we have no record that your new construction has a permit on file.  Please rectify this required documentation at our earliest convenience.”

[Punatang]

might collect

Might collect?

   

[Durian Fiend]

...

Think about what a government agency might collect with access to your statistics, purchases, video…. And then what government AI could do with that data.  What if for instance the government engaged in activities you didn’t agree with, and they found out, or didn’t like the way you phrased a post, or made a donation they didn’t like..

They're probably doing this already...in Moscow.    Locals call it "comfort class authoritarianism".   It's surprisingly high tech there.  Facial recognition allows individuals to pay for services with their smiling mug.
Cameras at crosswalks are rumored to have the ability to assess fines for jaywalking.   https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/1000...n_20260914

[Punatang]

Cameras at crosswalks are rumored to have

Wow!  That's an amazing rumor about Russians DF!  Do they have Punaweb in Moscow?

Seems like those evil Ruskies are all-in on their social contract, right?

You've brought up another critical way that flock cameras can help save and improve lives, Durian Fiend.  Flock cameras at every angle in crosswalks could catch poor drivers who demonstrate that they don't know how to safely drive through crosswalks. Flock cameras could also catch the hit and run drivers so that we can lock them up and prevent them from harming more innocent victims. Flock cameras at intersections combined with AI technology and facial recognition can also help identify individuals in the oncoming wave of seniors who, for their own protection and frankly the safety of others, might require additional assistance at crosswalks and other activities of daily living.  Grandmas, Grandpas and Hawaii residents of every age are horribly killed and maimed in crosswalks by deadly drivers every year (see 8 links about Hawaii below).  Hopefully, when we have Flock cameras at every intersection, authorities can catch these crosswalk killers, and assist those in need, before they harm themselves or others.

https://www.kitv.com/news/local/medical-...88c5d.html

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/02/2...collision/

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/01/1...crosswalk/

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/12/0...crosswalk/

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/10/1...crosswalk/

https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/03/eight-...-city-act/

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/08/31...es-safety/

https://hoodline.com/2026/03/honolulu-dr...test-plea/

We are all in this, together.

[Chas]

I think we should have cameras to track all of us, and everything we do. That way, no one will do anything wrong.