Full transcript
So today's topic is something a little
bit controversial. It's flock cameras.
And so a lot of people think that
they're not really a big deal. You have
no expectation of privacy when you're in
public. And while that's true, uh the
other issue is that people are concerned
that they are storing your movements
everywhere that you go and that's a
violation of of their rights. So I'd be
interested to hear what your thoughts
are. Uh but we're going to talk a little
bit about some of this here. uh flock
cameras read the license plates of
passing cars and then collect data and
store the data for future
investigations. So that's um that's a
big thing that
people point to that oh it's a great way
if there's an abduction or stolen car or
bank robbery and someone gets the
license plate they can easily pull up
all these cameras and track the
movements of the car and get the bad
guys and it makes a lot of sense. Uh,
flat cameras are in thousands of
communities across the country and often
hide in plain sight. Uh, it's an
automated license plate reader or ALPR
made by the public safety technology
company Flock Safety. So, the cameras
are commonly installed along roads at
intersections near neighborhood
entrances around businesses or other
private properties. And you've probably
seen some, maybe you didn't realize what
it was. Uh, these are a little bit
different than traffic cameras. A lot of
um news stations will have cameras set
up on different highways. A lot of times
they'll cut to one of these cameras to
show you what the traffic looks like at
5:30, you know, so people know what rush
hour looks like. Uh when a vehicle
passes uh one of these flock cameras,
though, it captures an image and uses
machine learning AI to turn its license
plate, color, make, model, and other
details into searchable information. And
that's the problem people have that
they're minding their own business and
these things are tracking the time and
date when you went past an area and you
can realistically build a map of your
travels for the day if you go around all
these cameras makes them useful for
those deploying them like the police.
Law enforcement agencies say flocks
technology can help them track down
vehicles and locate crime suspects. In
some cases, officers can search for a
specific car across tens of thousands of
cameras nationwide. And so if people are
saying, you know, the the bank robber
had a black sedan, here's a license
plate, uh, but I only get partial of it.
you know, according to what they're
saying with Flock, they can take that
information and kind of hone it down to
all black sedans that were in this area
on this date and, you know, then maybe
with a partial uh license plate. So, the
technology has been sparking a lot of
backlash. This is something that a lot
of people have been upset over. Uh
dozens of communities have canceled,
pause, or suspended contracts citing
privacy concerns, potential misuse of
the cameras, and data sharing with
federal immigration officers.
And so that's that's a key point is they
are,
for lack of better terms, they're
they're kind of stalking everybody.
That might be a little bit of a strong
word, but it's
I it's a point one of my kids had made
for years that back when we were kids,
we didn't have tracking on cell phones
letting our parents know where we were
at any given point. We were just out and
about. And so
it it's a whole different world, right?
So most people have some sort of
tracking with their kids so they know
where they're at. And a lot of it is,
you know, making sure they're safe. But
it gets to the point where it really
kind of kind of goes overboard. There's
a modern family episode where they're
tracking their daughter and they're
thinking the absolute worst and
uh they I think they lose the signal or
something and they're just spiraling
downward about all these bad things that
are happening. And so that's a thing a
lot of people are concerned with. It's
It's like you're tracking my car. You're
tracking everything with my license
plate, knowing where I'm at. So, you can
basically paint any picture regardless
if I'm doing anything bad or not. Um, so
what are your thoughts on these? I'm
curious to know if you are in the camp
that you don't think it's a big deal.
Maybe you think it's a good thing that
maybe now criminals have less
opportunity to flee and hide.
And you know, maybe it's good that
police, they don't have to have these
high-speed chases. They can just track
where the car went and then show up to
where the car went. Um, so there's that
side. Uh, or is this something that's
encroaching on your privacy? Do you
think this is against constitutional
rights that you have, which is pretty
much what people are citing that are
against it, that they feel that it's not
something that the the federal u
government or the police should have any
uh say so in your movements and uh being
able to track you everywhere you go.
Even if they're not doing anything with
it right now, who knows what they're
doing with it. So, those are the two
sides. So, let me know in the comments
what your thoughts are. Flax said its
license plate readers do not use facial
recognition and that customers, meaning
the ones putting up the cameras, not the
ones being monitored, can control access
to and sharing of the data collected.
And so, they're saying, you know, it's
not recognized the people for now. I I
still think it's something that again
it's going to be like in the in the
movies like Running Man and um
Terminator and there's all these
different futuristic movies from the 80s
and 90s where the there'd be like a
computer scanning and it locks in on a
person and automatically brings up all
the information by the scan. I mean that
that is here that's being used over in
China
and you know they have a social credit
score. That's what a lot of people are
concerned with that the more and more of
these cameras that get put up, the more
and more the novel 1984 is becoming a
reality that you're going to have
cameras everywhere that you go and the
authorities are constantly monitoring
everything that you do.
And uh there's a movie I think it was
called Minority Report with Tom Cruz. I
think that's right. It's been so long
since I watched it. I probably should
have looked that up. But um Minority
Report, they were basically arresting
people before they committed crimes
because the algorithm said they're about
to commit this crime. And so
very far-fetched, but again, some of
these other movies have always predicted
the type of technology that we actually
have today. So there is definitely
facial recognition right now. They say
they don't use that in the flock
cameras. Um, it remains to be seen if
that's going to be added eventually, if
there's going to be competitors or other
types of cameras that are going to be
put up in this country that include the
facial recognition.
So, um, they, uh, Flock says they are
built to focus on the vehicle involved
in an incident and the details that can
help distinguish it from other vehicles
on the road.
I'm sort of a
uh one of these uh junkies watching not
junkie but uh I I love watching a lot of
videos of interactions with the police.
Uh a lot of times like police chases or
um you know some type of crime has been
committed in the arrest. So, I love
watching videos on that because it's I'm
very curious to know how people think
and thrive in today's environment and
what they think they can get away with.
Some of these things that people do are
just outrageous and the way they act
when they're approached by police again
is outrageous. Again, I know that there
are other sides to the story where
they're not doing anything wrong and the
police act in ways they shouldn't
either. So, I think there's something
for both sides here. But, um, you know,
when it comes to a lot of these,
uh, a a lot of these videos that I
watch, they actually use cameras from
maybe private businesses that might have
video footage of a car coming into and
leaving the parking lot. So, flock
cameras is just the next logical step.
And they're managed by law enforcement
to collect the data. And so that's where
people are saying it's just getting um
getting too intrusive when most people
haven't done anything. Uh the company
said that vehicle records are
automatically deleted after 30 days by
default. Although customers may
configure different retention periods
when contracts and local laws permit.
So I guess if it's past 30 days, you're
out of luck. That footage is deleted.
So, typically if something's happened,
police have a month to figure out what
cameras they want to pull up and look
at. Uh, the Sacramento suburb of
Roseville, California, has been using
Flock Safety's AI powered camera since
2021. I like how they call it safety
cameras. [laughter]
Is it really? Um, I I guess it I guess
it I I don't live in a high crime area
like some of these major cities, so I do
get the need to have something to go
back on if there's been a crime
committed, but it's it's a slippery
slope, and that's the whole point of
this article. Uh the so its CEO Garrett
Langley founded the company in 2017 and
in a recent post published in May said 9
years ago I lived in a neighborhood in
Atlanta where crime was ticking up.
People were breaking into cars and
pulling firearms out of glove boxes.
Nobody seemed able to do anything about
it. A police major told me something
I've never forgotten. More than 70% of
crime involves a vehicle. And most of
those crimes go unsolved because police
rarely have the license plate. So I did
what engineers do. I built a system to
find the plate. A few months later, it
worked and that was the beginning of
Flock. So, it it sounds like maybe some
some good ideas, but um you know, again,
once something's built, what can they do
to improve it and
you know, become even more effective, I
guess. Uh so its customers now include
police departments, local governments,
businesses, schools, homeowner
associations, property operators, and
other private organizations.
So it's not just the police, it's
actually those that you know, maybe they
have safety concerns, apartment
buildings or, you know, properties where
they do need to have some sort of
surveillance. And a lot of people now
today are putting up their own Simply
Safe cameras, Ring cameras. Uh there's
all kinds of different cameras that
people put up to monitor their own
property. So there is precedent for
people wanting to at least be able to
record things on camera in case they
need to go back to it. Uh Flocked has
deployed some 120,000 cameras across 49
states. So almost every state now has
these. In recent ex post, Langley said
that during a single day, those cameras
alerted authority to authorities to more
than 4,000 sex offenders, some 2100
stolen cars, over 1,600 wanted people,
about 160 missing people, and one Amber
Alert. So, that's in a single day. So,
there is some good that comes from it
where maybe they have a lead, they're
able to track down the car that was seen
and solve some of these cases. So,
that's a lot of good that's done with
these. Flock operates as a subscription
business charging annual service fees
for each camera. And Flock was recently
valued at 8.4 billion uh with a B. So,
that is
this engineer with an idea quickly made
a ton of money. Uh the company also
sells conventional video cameras, audio
detection technology, investigative
software, and drones. Um so, what's the
controversy around Flock cameras? Um,
it's it's definitely something that a
lot of people feel strongly either way.
So, some people are concerned because
the devices can collect information
about ordinary drivers who are not
suspected of crimes. If I'm driving down
the road, I don't need someone
micromanaging what I'm doing and paying
attention to everything I do. More and
more they're looking to put cameras into
highways to monitor speed. And a lot of
times people are getting uh pegged with
these cameras and all a sudden a ticket
shows up in the mail. Uh I know a lot of
the tolls that we've been through over
the years that have gone from the toll
booths to you just keep trucking and
there's cameras that take a picture of
your license plate and you get a a uh
toll in the mail. And while that's
really nice, it doesn't slow people
down.
Uh you know, there are problems. Um, I
know people that have gotten multiple
tolls in uh, New York State that,
you know, they get the toll in the mail
and they say, "I've never even been
there. I've never been to that part of
the state." And so, you know, they'd
have to reach out and say, you know, the
picture um, on this ticket on this toll
shows this license plate. And you know
it comes up that license plate um ABC 1
2 3 4. It's actually 1 2 38 is my plate
not 1 2 3 4. So I don't know why I'm
getting this toll. So they keep getting
this because the license plate reader is
not reading the license plate correctly
and billing the wrong person that was
never even there. So it it can make
mistakes. Um, and again, this is trying
to read a clean plate. Uh, I I've seen
so many license plates that are obscured
or maybe they're just dirty in the
winter. A lot of northern states have so
much salt you can't really read the
license plate. Um,
and of course, you know, there are
people that put like the covers over
them that they're not supposed to. So,
there's all kinds of things that can
kind of
not make these cameras work very well.
Um, so is previously reported that at
least a dozen instances across the
country, misreads or a lack of
verification by officers resulted in
innocent people being stopped at
gunpoint or detained in jail, among
other outcomes. And I've seen video of
this. I've seen where, you know, the
cops show up to someone's house and they
or not house, it was a gas station, I
think, and they yanked this lady. I
think she was tending to a baby in the
back seat, parked in a spot, and they
come running up, guns drawn, put her in
handcuffs, she's freaking out, the kids
screaming, and it was the same type of
make of a car, but different model and a
different license plate. And so they
just come in guns blazing and had made a
mistake. And so, um, it so with these
verifi lack of verification with the
flock cameras, they've gone after the
wrong people. Um, stopped at gunpoint,
detained in jail, among other outcomes.
In Toledo, Ohio, Brandon Upurch was
mauled by a police dog after a flock
camera misread the seven on his license
plate as a two. Uh, so it must have been
a traffic stop, brought the police dog
out, and so on. Roseville, California.
Flock incorrectly read the plate in 71%
of 1,427 stolen vehicle and felony
alerts issued between 2023 and 2024. So
it that's just in one city, Roseville,
California, uh flock incorrectly read
71%
of the stolen vehicle and felony assault
um or or felony alerts issued. That is a
ton. That's that's almost 3/4s of all
the pictures taken were incorrectly
read. So that's what a lot of people are
concerned with are not only are they
being tracked, but they're being
incorrectly identified. And so then the
the cops come in and you're having to
prove that it's not you. And in the
moment, again, a lot of these videos
I've watched, in the moment, the police
don't want to hear it. They know it's
you. They have your license plate. has
pulled up your information and they're
putting you in cost putting you in the
back of the car.
And some people end up with a healthy
lawsuit and settlement after where, you
know, they made a mistake and they
violated this person's uh rights and,
you know, they've handcuffed him and
arrested the person. Maybe they searched
the car and so a lawsuit was created
afterwards. It's a mess. Um, I know. Um,
and like I said, I know someone who's
been sent multiple tolls because, hey,
you went through this toll. Well, no, I
didn't because I've never been to that
part of the state and has had to call
and be on hold forever. You know how it
goes. And you're trying to write a wrong
and it's just near impossible trying to
talk to someone. And now you're dealing
with AI when you're calling a lot of
these things and trying to explain to AI
that it's not you. Yeah, it's a mess.
Uh, the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
a nonprofit that advocates for civil
liberties in the digital world, says
flock cameras constitute mass
surveillance because they photograph
every passing vehicle rather than only
those connected to suspected crimes like
a speed camera might. A lot of people
don't like speed cameras. A lot of
people don't like um red light cameras,
but typically those go off when someone
is
breaking that law. And I I don't know
exactly how the speed cameras work, but
uh I assume if it's maybe radar driven
and then it takes a picture,
it's taking picture only when someone's
speeding. Same with a red light. You're
going through the red light, picture get
goes off. So surveillance cameras with
flock are taking pictures of everybody
regardless if you've done anything or
not. Again, there's no expectation of
privacy in public. um that is um you
know that that is constitutional but is
this
is this a right way to go about it? So
critics say a broad network of cameras
can reveal intimate patterns showing
when a vehicle visited particular homes,
businesses, medical facilities,
religious institutions or political
events. Uh it's been misused by police
to spy on their exartners and could be
used to target people engaged in First
Amendment activities or seeking medical
care. Um that was written in the blog
post. So that's the big concern is, you
know, there's one thing if you have all
this data, nothing's done with it, but
if you have somebody that is not
following procedure and wants to do
things on their own and maybe it's
personal,
can they use this? Sure. Yeah, they can.
they can pull up the records and and see
what you've been doing. So, that's one
thing people are concerned about. Um,
the EFF obtained records showing that
Texas deputies queried Flock's network
during an investigation involving a
woman suspected of self-managing an
abortion. Uh, the EFF and the ACLU have
also reported that local police
department shared or searched flock data
for immigration enforcement purposes.
And again, it's it's a slippery slope.
Once you start having something
available, they'll make any excuse to
use it to build a case, whether it's the
right way to do it or not. And so, I
think for now,
there aren't enough regulations on when
something like this can be used. And I I
think a lot of it just needs to be kind
of uh button up. It needs to be better
regulated as far as how and when they're
going to use this. Uh, I know there's
been a lot of talk as well about
citizens destroying a lot of these
cameras. Uh, over in Europe, they were
doing this. Over here, people, you know,
spray painting the camera. They're just
ripping it down. It's unbelievable, and
I don't advocate that either. Um, but
it's it's something that a lot of people
are getting really upset over. Uh, Flock
says the data sharing can expand the
systems reach by allowing agencies to
search records out collected outside
their jurisdictions. So again, that's,
you know,
it's a slippery slope if you're letting
other police agents across the board
just tapping into this. So let me know
what you think about all this. Let me
let me know if you are concerned about
these cameras. Let me know if you agree
that we should have these cameras. This
is another thing that all these AI data
centers people are concerned that
because I want to say it's like 15,000
some ridiculous number are being built
or want to be built and a lot of people
are concerned that it's for more
surveillance. It's for more 1984 type of
surveillance and so that's um a big
concern of what people have. So um and
if you like this type of content please
leave me a like, subscribe to the
channel if you haven't yet. So, I'd
appreciate that, too. Um, are there
Flock cameras near me? And so, uh,
that's something that Flock doesn't
publish a complete public map. It's not
something they're advertising, even
though they're pretty, you know,
recognizable when you see one. Um the
company says its cameras are used by law
enforcement agencies, business homeowner
associations, private organizations. And
one way to find nearby cameras is to use
DFlock, DE Flock, uh an open- source
community project that maps automated
license plate readers. So uh there's a
website that you can go to, just Google
it, and it'll um show you where these
cameras are near you. U and again,
that's just open knowledge. It's not
something I'm advocating for any reason.
Uh, local government records can also
clarify the location of cameras
purchased or operated by public
agencies. Uh, the ACLU says that
residents can search city council
agendas, police department policies,
contracts, purchasing records, and
meeting minutes for terms such as flock
safety or automated license plate
reader. So, in theory, you should be
able to at least pull this up where
they've gone ahead and bought cameras
and installed them. So, you should be
able to pull up records where they
detailed putting these in. So, are they
constitutional? Are these flock cameras
constitutional? The fourth amendment
prohibits unreasonable government
searches and seizures. The law generally
treats license plates and vehicles
driven on public roads as information in
the public domain. Pretty much what I
was saying, you can't have a reasonable
expectation of privacy when you're in
public. Uh ALPR cameras s fix in obvious
locations and register still images of
vehicles at that location in time. They
don't follow a vehicle from origin to
destination, cover only a small fraction
of a city's roads, and provide samples,
not a seamless diary of one's movements.
That's what Flock said uh in November
2025. So again, they're going to defend
it. They're saying, "Oh, it's just
taking a picture as you go by." So
they're not detailing what you're doing.
They're just detailing that you were
there. Okay. Well, again, it's it's
definitely an interesting debate and
it's one that [sighs]
I can see both sides. Um, again, people
say, "Well, I have nothing to hide. I
don't do crime, so big deal." Okay.
Well, um,
hopefully it is used responsibly and
used efficiently and correctly
as much as possible. So um it added that
the constitutional concern arises when
technology stitches together a
comprehensive portrait of someone's
movements over time that can reveal
intimate and sensitive details. Fixed
point in time roadway observations
occupy the other side of that line. So
privacy and civil liberty groups
disagree. The ACLU and EFF says that
network cameras can collectively create
a detailed and searchable record of
where people travel even if each ca
camera captures only one location at a
time. I mean, it's Jason Bourne type of
stuff, right? It's them pulling up the
grid and trying to search where where
someone traveled to find the person.
It's uh Enemy of the State if that's a
great movie. If you are looking for an
old movie that you've never seen, if
you've never seen Enemy of the State
with Will Smith and Gene Hackman, is a
great movie during a time when video
technology was so
rudimentary compared with what it is
today. Um, and a lot of it had to do
with spy satellites in the sky and
tracking things in real time. A lot of
uh lot of things that I'm sure are well
advanced to today. So, um, let me know
your thoughts about all this in the
comments. Again, please like the video
if you like this type of content. And
again, we,
um, we will talk about different things
on this channel. I know a lot of people
like cost living in an economy, but
there's other things that a lot of
people need to be concerned about, and
I'll cover those as well because it
interests me, and hopefully it interests
a lot of you as well. Maybe you didn't
realize some of this. And you know, my
hope is that I'm letting you know so
that you're aware of these things, too.
So, subscribe to the channel. If you're
watching these videos and not
subscribing, uh please, please, please
subscribe because I want to continue
with this community. Thank you so much
for watching. And if you don't want to
wait for any next video, if you don't
want to wait for a next video, again,
these are all one take videos here. So,
uh I'll leave some more over here on the
side of the screen. and I'll see you in
the next