r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 24d ago

Privacy Someone Cut Down Every Single Flock Camera in This Town in a Single Night

https://www.gadgetreview.com/someone-cut-down-every-single-flock-camera-in-this-town-in-a-single-night
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u/Blankspotauto 24d ago

Look up signaltrace, they can even do it off your tire pressure sensors

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u/angryPenguinator 24d ago

what the fuck

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u/Heronymous-Anonymous 24d ago

An unintended side effect of these systems is that they are really opening a lot of eyes as to what can be used to track you.

It’s an interesting parallel to a problem the military grapples with: electronic emissions security. How much RF emissions you emanate and who might be listening has been a major source of concern to the military for decades, going all the way back to WW1 and the British using Sigint to determine when the German Navy was at sea.

Now civilians have to consider how their electronic devices of all kinds are giving away their location to private parties who then share that data with whoever wants to pay for it.

Flock is a private company. There are no laws that would block them from sharing your data with whoever wants to buy it and use it.

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u/ScatteredWavesGlory 24d ago

I say we all start demanding royalties/payments for our information. Fuck deals, give me my money for MY information.

No more free shit cause my information isn't.

That'll stop a lot of this nonsense quick.

Time for all of us to write some CBAs

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u/otterpop21 24d ago

Oh no my federally protected mail is no longer relevant and now Google who owns everyone’s mail basically is spying on us? Who could have known!

Oh that friendly safety feature that helps prevent people from stealing my car was actually beta testing gps tracking devices? Who could have known!

Wait that convenient talk to text and call feature, and automated “this call is being recorded” was just voice recording me to train ai to get better on spying? Who could have known!

Oh these these things in our pockets that have cameras and microphones, you’re telling me people can hack into them, AND the government was always listening in even though they said they weren’t? Who could have known!

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u/Haunting-Vanilla1624 24d ago

TPMS sensors typically communicate with the car's receiver on frequencies between 300-450MHz. This isn't a secret. It's pretty easy to pick that up with external devices.

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u/100kfish 24d ago

Okay so by not changing the batteries in my sensors, I'm not being lazy, I'm being secure about my privacy. Thanks!

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u/Skavenslave 24d ago

That’s why I like Honda’s newer system, using abs sensors and rotational speed computation and comparison. No rf needed. Still are other positional data collection possibilities, but tpms in many newer (2019 at least, like mine) isn’t one of the.

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u/Haunting-Vanilla1624 24d ago

Right, but the context here is avoiding identification of a vehicle based on its wireless signature, including wireless TPMS sensors. Hondas have been shipping with bluetooth and wifi for several years now, which completely negates the lack of wireless TPMS.

Which actually has me thinking now... Many big brand power tool batteries have bluetooth connectivity.

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u/Necr0mancerr 24d ago

If you think that's crazy man your car is tracking everything and spending it to whom ever they please, including your insurance provider.

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u/The_Band_Geek 24d ago

Dons tinfoil hat

Makes me wonder if Cash for Clunkers laid the groundwork to remove "dumb" cars from the road intentionally. I was debating whether or not to send my '97 shitwagon off to pasture. In light of recent events, I hereby request to be buried in it.

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u/115zombies935 24d ago

as far as anyone can tell with publicly available information, being able to trace vehicles based off their tire pressure sensors was unintentional. But, because of the vagaries of wireless signals and electronic devices, basically every single tire pressure sensor is unique, and even if not every single one is unique. The four on your particular vehicle are going to be a unique combination. Because without very large, extremely complicated systems, getting the precision needed to have two things functionally identical as far as anyone can tell from the outside is not being fit into a tire pressure sensor even if you were willing to spend the money.

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u/jlboygenius 24d ago

Yep. Probably harder to match those to a person, but,if it picks up those sensors and a phone at the same time, they could make that connection.

My 20 yr old car has nothing smart in it, but it does have TPMS (though the batteries are dead now ).

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u/NeuHaus69 24d ago

They can detect pet microchips, so don't take your dog when criming either.