The story also noted that when the locations of some cameras were released, they were almost immediately destroyed.
On Saturday, Brian Merchant of the tech criticism newsletter Blood in the Machine cataloged a broader trend regarding Flock, the company famous for its networked, AI-enhanced, solar-powered license plate readers, video cameras, gunshot detectors and “drones as first responders” technology: vandalism against Flock devices is happening all over the country, without any coordination.
Most recently, on February 16, in La Mesa, California, a city in the San Diego metro area, a local news outlet reported two destroyed Flock cameras – one dismantled, the other broken.
But the most amusing thing is that last October six Flock cameras in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon were apparently hacked and destroyed. Below the spot where it was cut, a sticker was placed on a pole that read, “Hahaha Get Ruined, Supervising.”
An arrest was made last December after 13 cameras were destroyed in and around Suffolk, Virginia. According to local news, 41-year-old Jeffrey S. Sovern admitted, that “he used vice grips to help separate the two-piece mounting pole,” and that he had kept things like wires, batteries, and solar panels from the camera assemblies.
Sovern started a GoFundMe, where he wrote: “I appreciate having a quiet life and am not looking forward to this process, but I will take a ray of hope that this could be a catalyst in a larger movement to roll back intrusive surveillance.” He also links to an activist site called deflock.org.
Last month in Lisbon, Connecticut, police said they were investigating a destroyed Flock camera.
The sheriff’s department in Greenview, Illinois, said last month that two of its Flock cameras were hacked and destroyed.
Some other interesting facts about Flock: Its CEO Garrett Langley was 38 years old as of last September, and has indicated that he believes that broad enough use of his mass surveillance technology, along with the deployment of his other ideas, could eliminate all crime in America. he has all kinds of ideas (If people became cops, their student loans would be forgivenFor example) and talked about them two months ago on the YouTube channel of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. By the way, Andreessen Horowitz has invested $275 million in Flock.
But if you’ve only heard one thing about Flock lately, it probably has something to do with Ring’s terrible Super Bowl ad, which also featured his aborted partnership with Flock.
The intention behind the ad, which features Ring doorbell cameras integrated into Flock’s law enforcement-affiliated footage-sharing system, seems to be to give people the idea that mass surveillance in their neighborhoods is good because it will help find more lost pets. People and politicians clearly disagreed and there was a sharp reaction. The relationship between Flock and Amazon-owned Ring broke down in a short time.
When contacted for comment, Holly Beilin, Flock’s chief communications officer of staff, provided six links to news stories and the following statement:
“We respect the concerns and feedback raised about our technology and it’s important to us to build trust. We’re regularly answering questions in communities across the country and providing education on what our technology does and doesn’t do.”
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