Why does a retail store need a license plate reader?
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Deflock.me
When i saw there was no way to get into the lowes parking lot near me without passing one, i stopped going to lowes.
Yep, they have cameras at the 2 parking lot entrances closest to my local home depot. Looks like I'll be going in from the far side. Or maybe somewhere else entirely.
If this website is accurate then it is impossible for me to enter my nearest city from any roadway. Great...
Looks like I'll be shopping exclusively at ACE
That's fine, just shop at the competitor that doesn't do that.
...oh wait.
spoiler
Shut up Menards people, your store isn't in most of the country. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's doing it too.
Menards is in my area and it's fucking terrible. Their "20% off" is a mail in rebate for store credit, only and it's a perpetual "sale". It never actually has an end date like their ads claim. From shopping there just about every menards exclusive brand item ive purchased was over priced and broken in less than a year. I also know a handful of people that went from die hard menards fans to "never shopping there again" over the last few years because their prices on nearly everything have gotten ridiculous compared to literally any other store, online or brick. Their website is a pain to navigate, too and tries really hard to make you think the 20% off price is the final price on items.
So, the chance that this information is being shared with those fascists at ICE is what? 100%?
Perhaps these stores should HIRE STAFF THAT ACTUALLY GIVES A SHIT. And some security.
Cameras are cheaper than people.
They did this here in the UK with CCTV cameras. Put the fucking things up everywhere, while cutting police funding. Result - the muggers, dealers, etc know where the blind spots are or wear masks. And if something happens and you need to call the police you are screwed for anything less than murder. And we are under constant surveillance.
If you have an ebike, is it legal to put a fake license plate to add noise to the readers?
No, probably not legal.
In most places this is illegal and could get you charged with impersonating a vehicle registration - better to use IR reflective sprays or covers that mess with the cameras without breaking laws about false registration.
Dickheads. Protect your own asses from theft, vandals... but, do not bend the knee!
I hope my local "Curry Hardware" keeps their shit tight.
Honestly I dont think this is going to be too effective without a corresponding crackdown on fake license plates. Shoplifting from home improvement stores is a big problem but the people I've seen walking out with thousands of dollars of tools in broad daylight just had an obviously fake paper tag.
If the ai has facial recognition software, they can just wait til the next time that person comes in. AI flags the person, flag is picked up by somebody in Bangladesh who confirms it is the same person, cops are called and nab the guy as he is walking out of the store. Video evidence is then provided to the prosecution.
We need laws protecting privacy
Honestly I think in person stores are on the way out. The amount of shoplifting is making no longer cost effective.
It's almost as if the world would be better off if those Flock cameras with the solar panels and the flashing lights were all vandalized and destroyed...
I'll never shop there again
I’d been boycotting Home Depot because of their trump support, but Lowe’s was the alternative. There are some tiny little Ace Hardware stores, but they never have what I need and offer to order it with a week or so of lag time. Amazon is faster, but also, fuck Amazon.

It was once an upon a time reasonable to boycott. Now look, as your options dwindle to fascist supporter A, B, or C. That, or a single alternative who can’t actually meet your consumption needs. This is a problem that has gotten worse with time and will continue to get worse so long as nothing is done. Imagine a world where all your options for water are Nestle and similar. We can argue on the specifics, but that’s the general consumer dystopia we’re clearly headed towards. Our way of life has been compromised.
Same re:HD and Lowe's. My nearest Lowe's has three of these cameras in their parking lot. They not only spy on you but they flash their lights and play audio messages at you too. In the fine print of the Lowe's "Pro" membership (it's really a loyalty program and anyone can sign up) they ask you to explicitly agree to Flock surveillance and to agree that you have no rights to/over the data they collect. I avoid Lowe's when I can now - clearly they have no respect for their customers and their prices/selection are no better than elsewhere.
The deflock site doesn't show any cameras at my closest HD but I don't know if this means that they respect their customers slightly more than Lowe's or if it means the site just hasn't been updated yet. I'll have to make a point of looking the next time I'm up that way. Yeah, there aren't a whole lot of good alternatives to BigBoxHomeStores here either. Sometimes Walmart will have the more commodity stuff, but who wants to spend money at Walmart? At my nearest one, the management has lately been permitting anti-trans signature-gathering, allowing hate groups to set up tables on Walmart property right outside the main entrance where they can accost customers easily. The store is also hiring off-duty city cops to stand around doing nothing. If I want to be watched by cops I can get that anywhere in public - don't need to breathe Walmart air too.
The deflock site doesn’t show any cameras at my closest HD but I don’t know if this means that they respect their customers slightly more than Lowe’s or if it means the site just hasn’t been updated yet. I’ll have to make a point of looking the next time I’m up that way.
Same here. I'd like to think that there don't exist here but I'll bet they do it's just that no one has updated the map.
Anywhere that you see those camera towers with blue lights does this, it’s a massive network.
Requisite link: https://deflock.me/
My local Lowe's and Home Depot have the only Flock cameras in my county (for now, anyway).
The Home Depot nearest to where I used to live had cameras in the tools section ... Which is fine, but whenever they noticed a person in view, they would turn on the attached screens and play a tone every ten seconds or so. I guess it was to remind you that you were being surveilled?
Anyway, I always found them intrusive, annoying and offensive. I'm not surprised they've become part of a larger problem.
Yeah, I used to install those a couple years ago as a security tech.
Unless they are at the register, those screens don't even record back to a central DVR. Just a local SD card inside the screen itself. The only wire running to them is low voltage DC power, no video or network. Those things aren't really an issue in the grand scheme, they are less intrusive than a regular security camera since you can't even view them live at the head end.
Now the bigger ones hanging from a pole in the ceiling, yes those ARE being centrally recorded.
The Australian equivalent got into trouble for trying something similar (without the flock integration) recently.
Kmart too.
You still have Kmart in Australia? They went bankrupt in the US. I have fond memories going there as a child in the ’80s and ’90s but it went downhill in the new millennium.
I've been assuming I'm under surveillance each time I drive for decades at this point, starting with red-light cameras. The trend was never going to be toward fewer cameras with everything being sandboxed and tight restrictions on sharing.
I wouldn’t be surprised if all major retailers did the same thing. Target, for example, is a major donor to the police.
To run a chain with stores across the country and millions in merchandise, you must have gotten used to the taste of boot leather. What’s another little lick?
To run a chain with stores across the country and millions in merchandise, you must have gotten used to the taste of boot leather. What’s another little lick?
Love your prose
Literally what fox warned about, no one should have this power. And here it is, in the hands of those already with the most
Let me take this opportunity to say Fuck Lowes. Also while I will shop at home dept in a pinch, support your local hardware stores every chance you get. And in US consider finding an ACE franchise which are usually locally owned and operated. The service at either is a literal shock in difference to the big box store corporate hell scape and price gauging.
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