Meet Flock's Alpha Drone – It Reads License Plates from 2,000 Feet

3 months ago by empireOfLove2 to c/technology

Flock Safety's Alpha drone reads license plates from 2,000 feet and plugs into its existing ALPR network, raising serious surveillance concerns.
lepthesr 126 points 3 months ago

These fuckers just won't give it up.

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bamboo 93 points 3 months ago

Please bro, just let us watch your every movement at all times. Why you have to be like that.

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Flower 35 points 3 months ago

The tech bros aim for neo feudalism with AI surveillance control.

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Marshezezz 12 points 3 months ago
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ItsNotImportant24 7 points 3 months ago

"b1tch-ass fuckers" corrected. Anyone that supports this mass surveillance, spying on everyone's personal lives, data collection, age verification, identity verification, etc or is involved in their implementation in any way, that's exactly what you are.

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ItsNotImportant24 1 point 3 months ago
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JoMiran 71 points 3 months ago

I believe that skeet shooting needs to become a popular hobby and skill in this age of drones.

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virku 37 points 3 months ago

I believe the term is yeet shooting when the target is at 2000 feet.

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nullPointer 8 points 3 months ago

spray-and-pray

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Cris_Citrus 10 points 3 months ago

Pretty sure there are like emp guns used specifically for taking down drones without projectiles that might cause collateral damage. Though you still have to worry about where the drone falls

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empireOfLove2 21 points 3 months ago

If the drone falls out of the sky and hits someone, that sounds like the fault of the person choosing to fly it in a densely populated area. Drones have hardware failures all the time.

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aeiou 1 point 3 months ago path: 0 24933351 24935058, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
Master 1 point 3 months ago

Its illegal to shoot a drone is the US as drones are classified as airplanes. Just fyi. There are also specific guns and ammunition to do just that.

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CIA_chatbot 63 points 3 months ago

Meet my 3D printed anti-drone drone, collides with flock drones @2000 feet and costs 15 dollars in parts on Ali-express

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eager_eagle 13 points 3 months ago

dronikaze #132, here you go!

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DisasterTransport 3 points 3 months ago
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lIlIlIlIlIlIl 37 points 3 months ago

So now you don’t have to go to the range for target practice? Neat.

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ExLisper 19 points 3 months ago

~650m.

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MonkderVierte 6 points 3 months ago

Thanks!

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floquant 15 points 3 months ago

*has cameras that can resolve fine detail at that distance

License Plate Reader sounds so innocuous. They're realtime HD feeds.

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XLE 15 points 3 months ago

I see Gadget Review pop up more and more and I've started liking their content less and less. The editorial guidelines say they use AI right on the page you linked. And if I scroll down and click on a random article , it's AI generated and based on a tweet by CSAM poster Dom Lucre. It's not the first article I've seen that's basically repeating a tweet from some extreme looking Twitter account either.

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Imgonnatrythis 11 points 3 months ago

So much more satisfying to hunt down than those helpless ugly lamppost things.

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Reygle 10 points 3 months ago

I've never wanted to own a high powered sniper rifle before.

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EntheoNaut 10 points 3 months ago

No need for hi-powered. A 22lr is gtg, now for longer ranges a higher caliber could be used but a 22lr can easily get to 300 yards, probably push it 500+

Be careful though. Shooting at drones is a federal offense, they’re categorically aircraft as far as the law is concerned; even if hovering over your own property.

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ParlimentOfDoom 10 points 3 months ago

None of those are remotely close to 2000 feet.

Not that you'll even be able to see them from that distance.

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apudgypanda 6 points 3 months ago

yeah because the feds have shown so much reverence for the rule of law. Fuck em

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deddit 9 points 3 months ago

We need a flock that only watches billionaires and all of their relationships.

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aramis87 7 points 3 months ago

Because they're getting pushback from towns, but can still use the air.

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Drusas 6 points 3 months ago

Sure. Because you need thermal imaging to read a license plate.

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MonkderVierte 5 points 3 months ago

Would it be illegal to hijack and dronenap this?

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Tire 3 points 3 months ago

Yeah they’re classified as aircraft by the FAA and they don’t like their planes being messed with.

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Malyca 3 points 3 months ago

Cool target practice!

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artwork 3 points 3 months ago

Their own chat bot responded the following:

Screenshot


- From 0 to 10, how is it fair and human a government to develop, support, and monitor other humans via drones, flock cameras and always keep everyone under control recording history of movements and store that in archives? Interesting topic! Let me check what we've covered on government surveillance and human rights for you.

- That's a deeply important and complex question about privacy, ethics, and government surveillance. Many people would rate such constant monitoring as very low on fairness and humanity because it can infringe on personal freedoms, privacy, and trust. Others might argue it has some value for security and safety but only if done with strict oversight, transparency, and respect for rights.

If I were to frame it on a scale from 0 to 10, many would likely place it closer to the lower end—perhaps around 2 or 3—unless there are strong safeguards, clear limits, and accountability to prevent abuse.

How do you feel about this kind of surveillance? Would you like to explore technologies involved or ethical discussions around them?


Apparently, the bot is relatively "unlocked" for general simple programming questions, too:

Example

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aeiou 1 point 3 months ago

Ooh, finally a replacement for the Chipolte bot!

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godsammitdam 3 points 3 months ago
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lastlybutfirstly 2 points 3 months ago

Sounds like HL2 City Scanners.

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PierceTheBubble 2 points 3 months ago

There's no such thing as a camera that's restricted to vehicles or license plates; only "trust me bro" post-processing can restrict its scope. And with stationary ALPRs everywhere, why would a drone be required to do so; other than registering parked vehicles?

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decolo 1 point 3 months ago

Would these drones show up on flight radar?

Assuming not, I wonder how hard they would be to detect and track.

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floquant 2 points 3 months ago

I doubt they run ADS-B transceivers, but perhaps they do. In that case picking up the signal is almost trivial with a cheap SDR but the relatively low altitude means it might not show up on flightradar if there isn't one of their receivers in sight

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