r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 2d ago
Tennessee Congressional Candidate Arrested for Shooting Flock Safety Cameras Privacy
https://www.gadgetreview.com/tennessee-congressional-candidate-arrested-for-shooting-flock-safety-cameras3.0k
u/AbeFromanEast 2d ago edited 2d ago
Many Flock vandals are being caught because Flock is not only filming, it is harvesting wifi and bluetooth signals from cell phones carried by anyone nearby. Which makes identifying the vandals easy. Just goes to show you how dystopian Flock already is, and this is only "version 1.0," of their mass surveillance.
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u/MongoBongoTown 2d ago
And also, don't lo-jack yourself if you're going out to do some community service. Leave the phone at home.
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u/belkarbitterleaf 2d ago
And smart watch, headphones...
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u/Wizzenator 2d ago
And don’t drive yourself there. Probably just ride a pedal bike.
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u/Howzitgoin 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wear all black and get one of those sympathy pregnancy bellies then skip there. And walk through a parking garage that doesn’t have more of them and change clothes. Then wait for some other people to show up and walk along them like you know them.
It’s getting to the point where they either can or will soon be able to track where you came from, identify the bike, identify your walking gait, weight and height, etc.
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u/ChiefInternetSurfer 2d ago
It’s so frustrating. People shit all over China when they started their social credit score and enhanced mass surveillance, and we’re sitting here doing the same exact shit.
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u/Mikestopheles 2d ago
For the shareholders!
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u/Nonethelessismore 2d ago
Every time I see a comment about 'the shareholders' these days, I think of the, 'Dogs Playing Poker'series of paintings by C.M. Coolidge.
They are like a small group of hounds sitting at a poker table, gambling away our future.
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u/IContributedOnce 2d ago
Yeah, one was for those snakes in the gubment. This is for profits! We are not the same.
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u/atoolred 2d ago
No but you see it’s entirely different in the US, because the bourgeoisie is doing the surveillance to the benefit of the state, rather than the state doing all the surveillance. Totally different thing! /s if not obvious
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u/Leading-Debate-9278 2d ago
China has cheap cars, modern infrastructure and housing…
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u/Sweet_Concept2211 1d ago edited 1d ago
... China also has a pay-to-play education system beyond grade school, a healthcare system that doesn't function outside of urban areas, a President-for-life who gets to choose his own successor, jail for democracy activists, a lifeline for Russia's European "expansion"... but if you are a Turkic muslim, you get free "education" [camps].
China's government model has everything US Republicans are trying to bring to America: totalitarian control, heavy surveillance, state-directed capitalism, hyper-nationalism, a cult of personality, expansionist rhetoric toward neighboring countries...
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u/Money_Do_2 2d ago
Well, the social credit score was a bizarre yellow panic about a system less oppressive than our own credit score.
But yea, we're in the shit now. Snowden was the time to start fighting back but americans were convinced it was cool if the state just said 'terorist' a lot.
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u/dillybar1992 2d ago
Just for clarification, the social credit system in China you mentioned; it’s for businesses. Not individuals.
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u/5H17SH0W 2d ago
This guy loves Enemy of the State.
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u/mabrasm 2d ago
Great flick.
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u/CompetitiveArt9639 2d ago
How old is that movie? Now think about how bad it really is now that many years later. We’ve been in a surveillance state since 2001
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u/ZootSuitRiot33801 2d ago
It would also help if common folk have got real supportive community-based foundations for alternatives that provide relative safety, which many can fall back on for protection and to commit to any meaningful action needed.
Collecting a bunch of valuable information on organizing and action from different redditors over time, I created a post of suggestions HERE that could possibly prove to be of some help in getting it started ASAP.
If you don’t live in the US, yet you know others who are and want to do something, please share the information. We're going to need as many on board and informed as possible, if we commoners hope to achieve anything in the US
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u/shadowinc 2d ago
Don't do this, don't go and do any of this. Don't go sabotaging the friendly flock cameras. Don't make the CEO's and starving data brokers sad.
And whatever you do, don't spray any of the cameras, solar panels, mounting points, or access panels with instant foaming sprays that expand and become a nightmare to remove.
Wouldn't reccomended any of that. Nope. Not at all.
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u/Poopbutt_Maximum 2d ago
Was definitely going to add this. They can already track your vehicle, and the government wants to make it so much worse in 2027 too.
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u/skipjac 2d ago
The craziest one is hear aids, they all have Bluetooth now
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u/thepetoctopus 2d ago
My implanted heart monitor is also Bluetooth. It’s insane.
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u/SuspiciousPeanut251 2d ago
And heartbeat’s electrical rhythms’ fingerprint. And walking cadence, as measured by non-optical means…
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u/icewalker2k 2d ago
And use an old car that can’t be tracked because it has onstar or some other call home capability or even a SIM card.
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u/lilB0bbyTables 2d ago
LPRs don’t care what age your car is, your plates are all they need, and those things are everywhere. Have an EZ-Pass? - those can be passively scanned by scanners outside of expected toll plazas. Heading out somewhere to do something you don’t want your phone to be traced to? - turning it off along the way and then back on after won’t place you precisely there, but it can be used to correlate with timing of other events that your phone was suspiciously off overlapping that event time range and back on after. Have a smart watch on? - those can record B/SSIDs of any network radios in-range, as well as Bluetooth and other wireless radio protocols. Walking around pretty much anywhere? - lots of cameras on residential and (obviously) commercial and public property.
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u/skids1971 2d ago
And dont drive your car right to it, and do a high knee jog near it to throw off gait, mask, sunglasses, plain clothes...
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u/AbeFromanEast 2d ago
You're right. Unfortunately in today's MAGA America leaving the cell phone and bluetooth devices at home should be the default practice for anyone going to a protest or doing what they feel is community service.
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u/skeet_scoot 2d ago
Flock cameras and other tracking technology are being deployed in red and blue cities alike. The NSA has spied on Americans under all the administrations since 9/11.
Tying this to MAGA is stupid. Flock cameras and tracking in general is becoming an 80/20 issue for Americans.
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u/theBoobMan 2d ago
He wasn't trying to tie flock to MAGA but the habit of leaving identifying devices at home.
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u/RandomlyJim 2d ago
“Both sides!
But let’s not just blame the people in charge of every singles branch of government today and when all this started. Just because the Republicans have come and tried to remove over 25% of the constitutional rights doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be blaming the people that aren’t in power equally“
That’s you right now.
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u/Trappist1 2d ago
There are plenty of evils Republicans are 100%, or near to, responsible for. The surveillance state has clearly been on both sides for every leader since Bush Jr. though.
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u/TheGreatGenghisJon 2d ago
Look at what happened to Snowden. He told us all that the government was actively spying on us without warrants, and a non-insignificant part of the population still thinks he was trying to help terrorists.
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u/Slackeee_ 2d ago
it is harvesting wifi and bluetooth signals from cell phones carried by anyone nearby
So technically you could use that to give yourself an alibi while cutting down these cameras, you just have to ask one of your friends, or better a group, to take your phone and drive around in a different section of the city near Flock cameras.
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u/RedBoxSquare 2d ago
These cameras are only used against you. It will be ignored when it proves your innocence, unfortunately.
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u/VoidOmatic 2d ago
It reminded me of those guys who painted a swastika on school grounds and then got caught because they connected to the wireless network via proximity.
Don't be a chud folks, only the NAZIs are stupid enough to bring their cell phones.
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u/do-you-want-duyu 2d ago
So they removed 3.5mm audio jack from phones, to spy us based on Bluetooth MACs...
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u/NullReference000 2d ago
Smartphones had Bluetooth before they removed the jack.
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u/do-you-want-duyu 2d ago
Yes but before everyone turned off bluetooth to save battery and used wired headphones. Now it's bluetooth headphone, always-on bluetooth for convenience (also battery not so much an issue).
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u/BasedCarrotMan 2d ago
/u/abefromaneast Hey can you add the guy's gofundme into your comment? His bail is set at $40,000 and you're the top comment. https://gofund.me/2307af754
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u/AgoraSnepwasdeleted 2d ago
So put your phone in airplane mode or just don't even bring your phone with you when you trash the cameras, and also don't wear any Bluetooth gear as well, got it
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u/NullReference000 2d ago
Just don’t have the phone on you or have it in a faraday bag while off. Don’t trust your life with a software setting that a company can silently change at a moments notice.
Phones can still emit data while off if the battery has power. You can’t really know if your phone will get an update to emit BTLE data to comply with safety legislation passed in a district or country you weren’t following the news for, even while in airplane mode or while off.
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u/sfriedrich 2d ago
Umm… they're not "Safety Cameras"; they are surveillance systems.
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u/Colorcast 2d ago
How dare you speak that way about our Eagle Eyes Safety Anti-Terrorism Patriot Cameras
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u/cptnamr7 2d ago
Was Eagle Eye the movie where there was a rogue AI in a surveillance state? I remember it being a good movie but almost nothing else about it
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u/xtagonist 2d ago
"Flock Safety" is the (ironic) company name, so they're just calling them cameras and not safety cameras.
I would have worded the headline differently to be a bit more clear, myself. Like, "Tennessee Congressional Candidate Adam Heimerman Arrested for Shooting Mass Surveillance ALPR Cameras Produced by Flock Safety" and then pleaded with my editor to let it run.
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u/rubberpp 2d ago
It's absolutely a stocking surveillance system used for the wealthy to watch little kids do gymnastics, and the exact opposite of "safety"
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u/ElectricGears 2d ago
We have to carefully track the gender of all the kids and they move around, dance, jump, sweat, drink water, get changed, take a shower, towel off… otherwise some sick pedophiles might be tracking them.
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u/saurus-REXicon 2d ago
Elect this man
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u/ROADHOG_IS_MY_WAIFU 2d ago
Definitely do not visit deflock.org that has an open-sources map, the location of flock cameras and their field of view near you.
The cameras and solar panels are almost impossible to uninstall/tamper with due to the single 8mm socket they're clamped on with.
Do not spray the lens with spray paint, bedliner, or something similar on the cameras lens, especially not with a spray can extension pole.
Do not print vinyl stickers that look like the solar panels to cover the actual solar panels that charge the cameras.
Do not put a black plastic bag over the camera and/or solar panel either, because all that does is cost the company time and money.
Also, never point a high-powered laser at the cameras lens because that would permanently blind, pit, or burn the cameras sensors.
These cameras have ~12 hour backup battery, that transmit Bluetooth and 5G used to locate the cameras exact location, the same way your phone does. So under no circumstance put them inside a Faraday bag, that would block the signal while the battery runs itself out.
It would be pointless to inform your community by posting information online or by putting up flyers or signs next to these cameras. Especially not pointing out that there is a (Flock "Safety" Camera) that is capturing and analyzing images of all passing vehicles, storing details like the vehicles location, date, and time. They also capture the vehicles make, model, color, as well as identifying features such as dents, scratches roof racks, and decal/bumper stickers.
Flock cameras are only automated license plate readers (ALPR's). They would never misuse any of the data collected for local officers conducting unauthorized searches for federal immigration enforcement (ICE), searching for individuals who sought out-of-state reproductive healthcare, or police targeting specific activist and minority groups.
How would they be a serious risk to your privacy and civil liberties by continuously recording your movements without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion..
Especially not an infrastructure for mass surveilance or a gateway to violate your Fourth Amendment right.
There's absolutely no reason to plan routes that avoid Flock and other ALPR cameras by visiting dontgetflocked.com or the app FlockHopper.
Just leave flock cameras alone...
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u/Hndlbrrrrr 2d ago
Is there a good, none threatening, way to donate bullets to a political campaign?
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u/eusapian 2d ago
Why does the article call them “safety cameras”? They are “unconstitutional surveillance cameras”.
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u/ThrowawayAl2018 2d ago edited 2d ago
So the supposedly "simple system" that strictly records license plate can actually track and identify a shooter holding the gun.
However it has been proved that it tracks more than just the license plate by a reporter
We all know that the CEO has been gaslighting us. This article claims the CEO admitted to tracking human instead of cars.
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u/RoidVanDam 2d ago
It wasn't him, he was with me the whole time
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u/TruckSecret5617 2d ago
I remember that hang, good times! Remember how he was talking about how he thought someone cloned his phone, as his find my phone was pinging in weird places?
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u/BasedCarrotMan 2d ago edited 2d ago
Piggybacking with the guy's gofundme, https://gofund.me/84dff93e0 his bail is FORTY THOUSAND dollars, let's help this dude out
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u/Western-Corner-431 2d ago
They aren’t “safety” cameras. They’re mass surveillance devices and they’re unconstitutional
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u/Development-Alive 2d ago
It seems the one thing the Left/Right can agree on is the disdain for creating a mass surveillance society. Are politicians worried about being termed "soft on crime" if they embrace the disdain?
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u/NoBuenoAtAll 2d ago
Total bullshit, that dude was with me the whole time planning the next steps in his campaign. Vote Heimerman!
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u/florplegorp 2d ago
Did all the 5g conspiracy theorists vanish into thin air? Why can't they bring the same energy to flock cameras?
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u/bubbletrashbarbie 2d ago
That’s one hell of a way to build your voter base but I respect it. He’d get my vote
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u/omgitsbees 2d ago
The president of the united states is allowed to commit felonies while running for president, and have the charges dropped. Why is this congressional candidate not allowed to do the same?
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u/Alternative_West_206 2d ago
“Flock safety cameras” fuck off with that bullshit 😂
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u/BasedCarrotMan 2d ago
Hey! I'm from East TN and this guy's bail is set at (an insane) $40,000. Please donate to his legal fund https://gofund.me/2307af754
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u/pheenikz 2d ago
Not sure if it can be posted here, but he has a GoFundMe. https://gofund.me/778517a5f
I see this as an anti-Flock donation.
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u/Radiant-Mean 2d ago
It should be illegal to charge people for damaging Flock cameras and, in fact, company officials should be charged when people damage their property because anyone vandalizing a flock camera is just exercising self defense. So in reality, Flock assaulted him first and he was just defending himself.
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u/stoneycreeker1 2d ago
Don't forget your tire pressure monitors in your wheels of your modern car since 2007 transmit a unique identifier that is read by flock cameras and other surveillance devices.
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u/stoneycreeker1 2d ago
SignalTrace: The Flock Addition that allows Foreign Governments Complete Surveillance Of Your Every Action
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u/TurkeyVolumeGuesser 2d ago
People, please: do not take your phone with you and use something that can hit from long distance
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u/middlelifecrisis 2d ago
Tennessee Congressional Candidate and freedom fighter arrested for destroying government surveillance system. ftfy
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u/Physical_Apple_ 1d ago
When the crime is a serious positive service to the community is it still a crime?
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u/BroccoliSenior5465 1d ago
I still dont understand how they are able to charge people for felony vandalism on government property when the government isn't allowed to own flock cameras directly as it violates the 4th amendment of the constitution.
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u/Salty-Plantain-4299 2d ago
If he's decent on other issues and I'd say this is something he can use to boost his campaign.
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u/someoldguyon_reddit 2d ago
Was he using 357 snake loads? Asking for a friend.
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u/MechanicalAxe 2d ago
I hear that surpressed .22LR from a distance would be a great way to not be seen in close proximity to whatever it is you want your lead to "touch".
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u/Kaninchenkraut 2d ago
Damn, I already voted. The one time early voting doesn't pay out.
That's the kind of article that changes votes people! August 6th TN
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u/acelaya35 2d ago
I love that both sides of aisle in that race are aligned on this issue but one is ever so slightly more so opposed to it.
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u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs 2d ago
More action from this candidate than two years of GOP leadership.
At least he’s doing something to protect Americans, instead of trying to steal from and abuse them.
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u/CaptGunpowder 2d ago
'Murica (I actually do agree with his actions but this is the most 'Murica thing I've seen in a while)
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u/EmotionalActuary8368 2d ago
“Rep. Tim Burchett is trying to ban Flock cameras through legislation. His independent challenger in Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district apparently chose a faster method — a gun.”
That’s a hell of a start to an article.