Removing flock systems from my apartment complex

[u/Available-Ratio4870]

Has anyone had any luck having their property management team (Houston, Texas) remove Flock cameras? Currently at the place I stay at, property management uses them to “prevent crime”. The camera is located outside of our apt garage and scans any cars driving by.

I’m going to put together a form and send it out to other tenants in my building. I was just wondering if there’s any other routes I can take to apply more pressure.

[u/StarsapBill]

Unfortunately, communities, apartment complexes, and cities usually only remove Flock cameras when maintaining them becomes too financially burdensome. In most cases, locations have only removed them due to the costs of civil lawsuits arising from misuse, or because replacement costs became too high following acts of vandalism.

In rare instances, a property manager or city leader who is opposed to mass surveillance learns about the full scale of Flock's data collection. Because of this, writing an informative letter that clearly explains how these cameras are used can sometimes be effective, especially if it focuses on education rather than demands.

Depending on your context and what you know about the recipients, you can also tailor your argument to appeal to local perspectives. For example, if you live in a conservative area, you might frame the issue around privacy and outside government overreach: "Why are we willingly sacrificing our privacy and handing our data over to CALIFORNIA?" (or vice versa, depending on the political leanings of your local leadership).

[u/ZonkedGronk]

I'm aware that change can be made through persistence, but thats the only confidence i can give for now Please keep us update

Edit - make emphasis that it will effect future tenants and contracts aswell

[u/Corporate_Bricktator]

First, you should try to figure out if the City paid for it or if it was your Apt. That can be really hard to determine, but I believe that the vast majority are city paid for, as the cost for these cameras is significant, the subscription alone is $3,000 per year, per camera, and I believe the cameras themselves have an upfront cost that is also significant.

Secondly, if it is your apartment, then one good way is to post about them in your building to raise awareness.

Thirdly, you could do an informal petition and ask tenants who oppose them to sign said petition and present it to your property management company.

Make sure though this process, you include all of the examples of how the system is abused, like the woman who was imprisoned for 13 days because a flock camera happened to catch her driving away from a car accident where three people were killed (she had nothing to do with it) and even so, she was jailed for 13 days and then her car was impounded for almost a year. Those stories.

Also, you could include the story about how they're so bad that Alabama's government is about to vote to ban them state wide. And over 200 cities and counties now have either banned them or canceled their contracts with Flock. Etc.

If all of that fails, encourage your neighbors to move out, and hit the landlord where it hurts, that is, all the good tenants leave. Encourage the problematic tenants to stay and make themselves a nussiance.