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Cops Search Thousands of Flock Cameras for Reasons of ‘LMAO,’ ‘IDK,’ ‘Hehe,’ and ‘asdfg’ (www.404media.co)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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The EFF found cops writing “idiot,” “WEIRD KID,” "blah," "leave me alone," and button mashing in Flock's 'reason' box.

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[–] 23 points 1 month ago (9 children)

I don't get why this comes as such as big surprise. It's human nature. I grew up watching funny home videos and CCTV videos etc. Cops have access to the system, I think most others would abuse it the same way.

It's a gross invasion of privacy and Flock should be banned everywhere. it's disgusting how it can easily be abused and should be avoided at all costs. Imagine what Joseph James DeAngelo would have done with access to Flock.

Catching a quick glimpse of a person that they deemed attractive could end up being high end stalking.

The bad very much outweighs any good that these cameras are alleged to help with. Fucking traffic violations?

Okay, maybe tracking a murderer etc. might be a good use of the system, but the ratio of that happening, and what they are being used for is ridiculous.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

    The bad very much outweighs any good that these cameras are alleged to help with. Fucking traffic violations?

    Okay, maybe tracking a murderer etc. might be a good use of the system, but the ratio of that happening, and what they are being used for is ridiculous.

    I reject the notion that mass surveillance has any valid use whatsoever, even including tracking murderers. The mere existence of the system has chilling effects on the non-criminal citizenry that makes it absolutely categorically unacceptable regardless of what alleged benefits it tries to claim.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Ah yeah, I don't agree with it either, but if pushed and playing devil's advocate, I can see that it might help catch a murderer or rapist.

    It still doesn't outweigh the bad that it does though, imho.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Well sure human nature exists but there's also professionalism - unfortunately in many parts of the country these people take an intelligence test to screen out the high scorers.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Yes, they are trained, but it's in their nature to abuse that system. That's probably why many of them become cops. Computer repair people used to snoop through private photographs and videos (possibly still do).

    It's like dangling a carrot in front of them. But instead of punishing them for abusing the system, the system shouldn't exist.

    There literally should be penalties on local elected officials for every attempt at invading privacy on any scale, but on a scale that high, it's crazy.

    Tech are lobbying for it the world over, and at the moment they're winning.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    Most people might, a lot of people appreciate a little gossip, drama. However, ones integrity must take over when in positions of power. What we are seeing is that the cops implicated here, and their protectors, are lacking integrity.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Exactly. If we're going to have these systems at all, they should be retroactive-only and require a warrant to access at all. For example, if some masked person robs a bank and gets away, at that point police can go to a judge and ask for a warrant to access the camera records. They can then hopefully use the records to catch the thief. But there should be no way to access the camera feeds live, and all access should require a warrant. In fact, the police shouldn't even have accounts to access the cameras. There should be an office within the court system, and that office should be the only people that can access the camera footage.

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