Bipartisan 'Uprising' Against Flock Cameras: a Larger Fight Against Big Tech and Surveillance? (salon.com)
(Sunday August 16, 2026 @11:04PM (EditorDavid)
from the get-the-Flock-out dept.)
- Reference: 0185006430
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/08/16/217209/bipartisan-uprising-against-flock-cameras-a-larger-fight-against-big-tech-and-surveillance
- Source link: https://www.salon.com/2026/08/14/the-flock-uprising-is-just-the-beginning/
[1]Politico notes that over 20 local jurisdictions in America "either stopped using Flock cameras or began the process of doing so in July, according to a tracker maintained by DeFlock, an activist group that has been mapping the company. It's the highest amount in a single month since they began tracking in 2021."
> Some local officials said the public safety promises weren't worth the cost. The cameras "didn't help us with anything. From a utility aspect, they were just kind of not useful," said Eric Couture, a Democratic first selectman in Killingworth, Connecticut, another city that recently canceled its contract with Flock. "I'd say it was a net negative."
And their article adds that it's a bipartisan pushback that "runs parallel to sprawling fights over the future of technology in American life, including the rise of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence tools and the construction of massive data centers needed to power them."
Salon even argues Flock's cameras "have become [2]a symbol of growing anger over the efforts by technology oligarchs to impose their dystopian fantasies on the country, replacing liberal democracy with a surveillance state... People are sick of tech billionaires trying to control our lives""
> By targeting Flock cameras, activists are building momentum for a larger rebellion against the tech industry — and against political leaders who are complicit in their assault on our freedoms. Flock Safety embodies the dishonesty that has been the prevailing theme of tech corporate communications and marketing for at least the past decade. While the cameras are sold to the public as a banal traffic safety measure, they have prompted an outpouring of stories about how they're being used to violate civil liberties and undermine democracy...
>
> According to an exhaustive [3]10-month analysis by Electronic Foundation Frontier, a nonprofit dedicated to defending civil liberties in our digital age, local police were using the cameras to track protesters, such as those at No Kings rallies, who were then put in a national database to be used across all jurisdictions. Despite claims that the cameras only record license plates, the technology-focused outlet [4] 404 Media found that the database is also being used to collect information on individual people whom cops can then search for using descriptions of clothing, race, gender and body type.
>
> The Flock uprising, though, is the stirrings of public understanding that none of this inevitable — and we have the right to fight back... Along with protests against data centers, it's a sign that the public is desperate for a way to fight back against not just AI, but also the anti-democratic forces fueling this latest tech wave.
Salon's writer also adds that "what stands out about the burgeoning public rebellion against Flock security cameras is just how fun it all is," citing "a national cat-and-mouse game between [5]vandals and cops that is being merrily followed on social media, mostly by people rooting for the vandals."
> City council meetings in which citizens swarm to [6]protest paying for the cameras are the new must-see TV. In Huntington, West Virginia, a small city in the heart of Appalachia, one man became an internet folk hero when he stood up at a city council meeting and said, "I'm not gonna waste your time; I'm kinda hungry. But one last thing: Every single Flock camera has about 2-3 pounds of copper and about 1-2 grams of gold. Do with that information what you will." He then walked off in triumph.
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/09/flock-cameras-backlash-cancellations-01026242
[2] https://www.salon.com/2026/08/14/the-flock-uprising-is-just-the-beginning/
[3] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists
[4] https://www.404media.co/how-cops-use-flock-to-track-people-not-cars/
[5] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2026/08/08/flock-camera-vandalism-controversy/91194591007/
[6] https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/city-council-hears-mixed-views-flock-cameras-data-access-hearing-columbus-ohio-emmanuel-remy-614-ice-watch-elaine-bryant-crime-immigration-missing-children
> Some local officials said the public safety promises weren't worth the cost. The cameras "didn't help us with anything. From a utility aspect, they were just kind of not useful," said Eric Couture, a Democratic first selectman in Killingworth, Connecticut, another city that recently canceled its contract with Flock. "I'd say it was a net negative."
And their article adds that it's a bipartisan pushback that "runs parallel to sprawling fights over the future of technology in American life, including the rise of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence tools and the construction of massive data centers needed to power them."
Salon even argues Flock's cameras "have become [2]a symbol of growing anger over the efforts by technology oligarchs to impose their dystopian fantasies on the country, replacing liberal democracy with a surveillance state... People are sick of tech billionaires trying to control our lives""
> By targeting Flock cameras, activists are building momentum for a larger rebellion against the tech industry — and against political leaders who are complicit in their assault on our freedoms. Flock Safety embodies the dishonesty that has been the prevailing theme of tech corporate communications and marketing for at least the past decade. While the cameras are sold to the public as a banal traffic safety measure, they have prompted an outpouring of stories about how they're being used to violate civil liberties and undermine democracy...
>
> According to an exhaustive [3]10-month analysis by Electronic Foundation Frontier, a nonprofit dedicated to defending civil liberties in our digital age, local police were using the cameras to track protesters, such as those at No Kings rallies, who were then put in a national database to be used across all jurisdictions. Despite claims that the cameras only record license plates, the technology-focused outlet [4] 404 Media found that the database is also being used to collect information on individual people whom cops can then search for using descriptions of clothing, race, gender and body type.
>
> The Flock uprising, though, is the stirrings of public understanding that none of this inevitable — and we have the right to fight back... Along with protests against data centers, it's a sign that the public is desperate for a way to fight back against not just AI, but also the anti-democratic forces fueling this latest tech wave.
Salon's writer also adds that "what stands out about the burgeoning public rebellion against Flock security cameras is just how fun it all is," citing "a national cat-and-mouse game between [5]vandals and cops that is being merrily followed on social media, mostly by people rooting for the vandals."
> City council meetings in which citizens swarm to [6]protest paying for the cameras are the new must-see TV. In Huntington, West Virginia, a small city in the heart of Appalachia, one man became an internet folk hero when he stood up at a city council meeting and said, "I'm not gonna waste your time; I'm kinda hungry. But one last thing: Every single Flock camera has about 2-3 pounds of copper and about 1-2 grams of gold. Do with that information what you will." He then walked off in triumph.
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/09/flock-cameras-backlash-cancellations-01026242
[2] https://www.salon.com/2026/08/14/the-flock-uprising-is-just-the-beginning/
[3] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists
[4] https://www.404media.co/how-cops-use-flock-to-track-people-not-cars/
[5] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2026/08/08/flock-camera-vandalism-controversy/91194591007/
[6] https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/city-council-hears-mixed-views-flock-cameras-data-access-hearing-columbus-ohio-emmanuel-remy-614-ice-watch-elaine-bryant-crime-immigration-missing-children
We'll see (Score:3)
by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )
Talk is cheap. Pay attention to how they vote.
Believe them when they tell you who they are (Score:2)
by Kobun ( 668169 )
"And then unfortunately there's terroristic organizations like [DeFlock] whose primary motivation is chaos ... They are closer to Antifa than they are anything else." Garrett Langley, Flock founder and CEO
Sure, he apologized recently once he started losing revenue. I am very doubtful that the apology was genuine. Someone who thought that creating a map was equivalent to terrorism (and happens to share MAGA's obsession with a make-believe version of Antifa) probably didn't have a total about-face chang
Bipartisan my ass (Score:1)
by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
The US Republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Peter thiel and Elon Musk. Both of who are all in on surveillance and spying on you.
The Democrats may be reckless and borderline insufferable but at the end of the day they will do what the voters want.
Now if I can just get the voters to stop being so mother fucking stupid.... It's like the old saying goes democracy is the worst political system besides all the other ones
Everyone hates a busybody (Score:1)
A great bipartisan issue: people who can't mind their own business are universally disliked.
And companies that stick there nose in everyone's personal business, then tell you it's for your own good? They are reviled.