Flock, the automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company, exposed some of the license plate cops were looking for and the reason for doing so.
Flock Leaked Cops’ License Plate Searches via DuckDuckGo, Bing
2 days ago by FundMECFS to c/technology
IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet 188 points 2 days ago
Remember it's not just a license plate reader. There should be a law against calling it that.
pelespirit 27 points a day ago
Could you explain what you mean further?
Dojan 115 points a day ago
They're little computers with cameras that capture everything. I think some of these types of devices run Android. Many are very poorly secured, like the article suggests. A "license plate reader" sounds like it only reads license plates, these are surveillance platforms, with cameras and microphones. They can be accessed remotely to do more than just read a license plate.
I'm thinking the person says that couching it as a license plate reader is disingenuous, because it doesn't really convey the gravity of what the devices are capable of.
greyscale 36 points a day ago
They're Android. And they're hella insecure. And hilariously jankilly implemented. I'd be ashamed if this was my states state surveillance infrastructure.
Related videos:
extremeboredom 17 points a day ago
Yes, ALPR is a term used for the purpose of public relations. It does not accurately describe the technology.
EldritchFeminity 14 points a day ago
I didn't know "any license plate reader" also scanned your phone as you went by and added your dog to their database to better identify you as an individual.
They don’t just read license plates. They analyze faces/pets/distinctive clothing to ID people, scan nearby WiFi and Bluetooth signals to track devices, scan distinctive features of vehicles (dents, scratches, bumper stickers, etc) to track them even without a clear license plate, etc… Calling it a license plate reader vastly downplays their capabilities.
It’s like someone calling a fully automatic high-powered machine gun “a rabbit-hunting gun”. Sure it could be used to shoot rabbits, but that’s vastly understating the capabilities.
FauxLiving 6 points a day ago
'Can be' and 'are' are two completely different categories of things.
mic_check_one_two 93 points a day ago
They don’t just read license plates. They analyze faces/pets/distinctive clothing to ID people, scan nearby WiFi and Bluetooth signals to track devices, scan distinctive features of vehicles (dents, scratches, bumper stickers, etc) to track them even without a clear license plate, etc… Calling it a license plate reader vastly downplays their capabilities.
It’s like someone calling a fully automatic high-powered machine gun “a rabbit-hunting gun”. Sure it could be used to shoot rabbits, but that’s vastly understating the capabilities.
tocopherol 32 points a day ago
It's good to point this out, I don't drive but I forget they could probably track my bike still based on it's distinctiveness, calling them license plate readers really does obscure the insidiousness well. We've heard about automatic license plate readers for years, they weren't like this so it is really disingenuous to call them such.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA 8 points a day ago
oh yeah. like, if the police in town have figured out who i am from my trike, there's no way the ALPR hasn't. that thing is fucking distinctive. and i wave hi to everyone (the ALPRs with one finger)
Doublenut 24 points a day ago
Atlanta has them in the middle of parks too far from and facing away from parking lots to read any license plates.... they're there to use facial recognition on children playing on park equipment.
ironycanal 14 points a day ago
Oh wow.this is just blatantly anti-police. You think cops shouldn't get to masturbate, just because they're cops?
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA 3 points a day ago
ground squirrels. we use the atf tag (it's not mine, i don't know what it's called) machine gun to hunt ground squirrels. i mean you have to kill them for environmental regulation and agricultural control anyways, might as well have some fun.
extremeboredom 56 points a day ago
It uses machine learning algorithms to identify vehicles independently of the license plate. Leaked documentation has also shown they operate facial recognition tech, in direct contradiction to the lies they tell the public. Flock is fundamentally an evil company, delivering the infrastructure for totalitarian rule, wrapped in the alluring false promise of eliminating crime. They know exactly what they are doing, which is why they are so heartily embraced by fascists in government, from the top all the way down.
snausagesinablanket 12 points a day ago
So the people that like these don't mind their own privacy being invaded? Perhaps they already know if caught doing something they will get a free pass?
extremeboredom 18 points a day ago
Generally the ones putting them in are on the side of the system that gets a free pass wherever they go. And the majority of the public that allows it to happen fall for the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" fallacy.
Zen_Shinobi 12 points a day ago
On top of what everyone else saod, FLOCK can track your vehicle as you cross several plus states. I would say 90% if not more highways and freeways have them across the US.
Cool tool for stopping real crininals, bad tool on a civil rights side.
impairedimperator 6 points a day ago
Pretty much everyone is a real criminal, it's just that most crimes are so minor that they are ignored (see: jaywalking, speeding, putting ice cream in your pocket). In some cases, the laws exist to provide a fig leaf for the powers that be when they want to fuck with someone.
IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet 5 points a day ago
People don't understand "real" criminal in deeply intertwined with regular people and regular cops and politicians. Most "regular" naive people think of criminals as some mythical thing but they are everywhere. It's almost as if the "straight" legal life is mirrored 1 to 1 with the dark side. And that part of maintaining the "legal" side is to market that the dark side is a myth, even though is there, part of the "legal" sides politics, economy, and culture.
ironycanal 4 points a day ago
Cool? Arguable. Useful? Not in practice.
artyom 6 points a day ago
They're just public cameras. They're notoriously used to capture and record the locations of vehicles via their license plates but realistically they totally could flip a switch and start using them for things like facial recognition overnight.
ironycanal -5 points a day ago path: 0 24367854 24368656 24372217, hotness: undefined, score: -5, children: 1
pelespirit 2 points a day ago
Dude, I think you're misunderstanding. i really wanted to understand. Thankfully Lemmy is awesome, and now I do.
ironycanal 11 points a day ago
I don't understand. Don't you want to feel known? Understood?
crandlecan 1 point 9 hours ago
I never thought about it like that! I'm... I'm... loved? 🥹
TheEighthDoctor 2 points 15 hours ago
Get dorked!
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Im shocked that the company who was openly broadcasting live feeds to the public internet also exposed the details of searches!
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