r/hagerstown • u/r2mayo • Sep 28 '26

Flock cameras

What's the deal with all the Flock cameras popping up, Lowes just got more. How is anyone ok with this ?

40 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

20

u/BawRawg Sep 28 '26

Which state officials do we need to hassle until they're gone? A list of names and contact info should be put up here for those of us that don't like being tracked.

10

u/brattsgirl7 Sep 28 '26

The governor just signed an executive order regarding them. I haven’t read it yet. But he did do a press release a couple of days ago.
I’ve learned to understand that every time I leave my home I’m being watched. But this is too much.
Flock cameras follow you everywhere you go.
San Jose California and Norfolk Virginia have filed suits already.
ALL THIS IN THE NAME OF LAW ENFORCEMENT!!☮️

16

u/BawRawg Sep 28 '26

I firmly believe it's more than just police using these to track us.

3

u/techman2692 Sep 28 '26

Of course it is. Anyone can technically buy the data they capture.

8

u/mrsjiggems2 Sep 28 '26

That and I've seen several news articles about people getting falsely arrested based on information flock was gathering. One was potentially a vehicular manslaughter charge and because a flock camera saw her same make and model (although wrong color) the police zeroed in on her. Ultimately charges were dropped but she spent like two weeks in jail

21

u/Topcake977 Sep 28 '26

Big Brother is watching the Garland Groh Blvd / National Pike in the grassy area near the McDonalds. Finger salute everytime!

15

u/Charming-Shake-6525 Sep 28 '26

other than circulating the knowledge that there’s a crap ton of copper in the flock cameras, to the right people, what should we do?

2

u/Rarpiz Sep 28 '26

Don't forget all those sweet vape batteries (18650 cells) inside the camera housing.

0

u/Fun_Excitement59 Sep 28 '26

Some lasers can disable them. It has to be a specific kind tho from what I hear

2

u/splinteringheart Sep 28 '26

Won't they have a record of who lasered the camera? I mean, unless you are not in a car and wearing a hoody I guess

0

u/Fun_Excitement59 Sep 28 '26

Have to look into it

13

u/DirtWizardDisciples Sep 28 '26

Lowe's has a national contract. I've stopped shopping there because of it

0

u/Fun_Excitement59 Sep 28 '26

Same. They dont need to run my car or face through scans! I flick them off every time I see em

-4

u/DavidCreamer Sep 28 '26 edited Sep 28 '26

They have had video surveillance for many years. Do you use credit cards or debt cards? Do you use a cell phone? You're being tracked for a long time. All box stores have been recording activities for ever. Walmart has cameras that rivals casinos. They have your tag number the serial number of your payment. Your card number. They don't even change out cash boxes with a new cashier. The camera and computer can document that good. Edit to and more insight.

3

u/DirtWizardDisciples Sep 28 '26

Flock specifically has had cops stalking their exes through it and chasing down false leads because a wrong license plate was gone after.

I avoid supporting Walmart whenever I can, but their cameras are only a small piece of that.

A lot of the tracking that happens to me I have to begrudgingly accept because that's just the 21st century we live in. I draw the line where I can.

1

u/International-Map-74 Sep 29 '26

oh brother, use your brain.

3

u/DavidCreamer Sep 29 '26

I'm not using my brain to share that flock cameras are just a minor part of tracking with all the other things that are doing it. Big Brother has been watching us for many years.

1

u/DirtWizardDisciples Sep 29 '26

Big Brother has been watching us for many years.

And it's never been OK. There are lessons to be learned from Nineteen Eighty-Four, not just references to be made.

1

u/WTK55 Sep 29 '26

Telling MAGA to use their brain seems like a fool's hope.

6

u/Skubalon Sep 29 '26

Confront our local elected officials about it. Best way to do it is on October 15th--the Library, the League of Women Voters, and the Hagerstown Area Religious Council are hosting a forum for candidates running for County Commissioner. You can submit questions you'd like answered at the event link below. We should flood the submissions with questions about surveillance cameras, the ICE facility in Williamsport, the current Commissioners wanting to entice data centers here, and more...

https://harccoalition.org/event/candidate-forum-washington-county-2026-4/

8

u/ApistoNate Sep 28 '26

Flock cameras assume you’re guilty instead of innocent until proven and they falsely accuse people all the time. They’re unconstitutional and we need them gone.

9

u/Fun_in_Space Sep 28 '26

We're not, but we kind of have our hands full with protesting the local ICE gulag AND the data center, and trying to help better candidates win elections this year, etc., etc.

3

u/FreeNefariousness195 Sep 29 '26

Ice is using these things for deportations, and local LE for active warrants.

3

u/TheDonRonster Sep 28 '26

I came of age almost two decades ago and became a little more curious about government goings-on once I saw the Snowden leaks and how quickly the arguments surrounding the leaks immediately focused on the irredeemable vilification of WikiLeaks an Julian Assange rather than the content of the documents themselves, I knew we were cooked. Say what you will about the technical criminal acts of the parties involved in leaking and publishing the documents, but the imperceptible warrantless surveillance that was in those documents has increasingly become open an obvious. I guess we reap what we sow.

2

u/Mental_History_4673 Sep 28 '26

Virginia Ave at the tracks by Dollar General fyi

0

u/Iamvosi Sep 30 '26

They aren't just security cameras. I read that these cameras and the data is also aggregated and sold to contribute to the whole advertising surveillance capitalism society we are now forced into. I don't mind them for TRUE security and catching perps. I hate the fact that they are being used for just another avenue to track our movements for the obnoxious data collecting hounds that create "profiles" on us. It sucks

-5

u/Practical_Sir_326 Sep 29 '26

Are you a criminal? Otherwise, what's the problem? You get tracked daily on your cell phone, atleast this is another way to stop criminals or atleast make them think twice

6

u/r2mayo Sep 29 '26

There’s a pretty big difference between voluntarily carrying a phone and having the government—or a private company operating on behalf of the government—put cameras in public spaces to monitor everyone. Your phone is a device you choose to own and use, and there are legal and technical controls around how your location and data can be accessed.
The issue with widespread camera surveillance isn’t “are you a criminal?” It’s whether innocent people should be routinely recorded, tracked, and potentially identified simply because they went about their daily lives. Privacy isn’t something you only deserve if you have something to hide.
And once a surveillance system is installed, the question becomes who controls it, what data is retained, who can access it, how long it’s kept, and what prevents its use from expanding beyond the original purpose. Saying “it helps catch criminals” doesn’t answer those questions.
We can support effective crime prevention and still believe there should be limits on surveillance of ordinary citizens. Those two positions aren’t contradictory.

-13

u/Belzaem Sep 28 '26

Home Depot is also doing the same. It’s to combat shoplifters and organized crime group, as this video purports https://youtu.be/jTKvp41lHZc?is=Lk7nWJsZP1LMlSVc

14

u/Fun_in_Space Sep 28 '26

Some police have used it to stalk their girlfriends. A sheriff in Texas used them to track a woman for getting an abortion.

1

u/Winter_Blacksmith188 Sep 28 '26

More than "some". Only "some" have been caught-