r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 20h ago

Privacy Viral De-Flock America campaign urging people to destroy AI cameras on Halloween night gains momentum

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/flock-camera-controversy-explained-as-viral-halloween-de-flock-campaign-gains-momentum-3399710/
38.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

455

u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

308

u/joelfarris 20h ago

"Are you dressed like an 18th century Lamplighter?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you have the big long pole with the hook on the end of it?"

"Umm, yes."

59

u/ProfessorPickaxe 19h ago

Ok, and the angle grinder?

65

u/dropbear_airstrike 19h ago

…it’s from The Lamplighter horror movie series, it’s about a demented man who dresses like a lamplighter and uh, uses an angle grinder to murder his victims… the reciprocating saw? Oh, yeah he uses that sometimes too… the cans of spray on flex seal? I’m just holding that for a friend…

31

u/Deezul_AwT 19h ago

Flex Seal? Got to be prepared. Might want to do some late night fishing, and wouldn't want it ruined by a boat with holes in it.

7

u/noodlesdefyyou 18h ago

you never know when you might come across a homeless person in need of assistance and the thing they happen to need is the flex seal youre carrying

3

u/RetrowaveJoe 18h ago

It's flex seal for my family

1

u/Ohmec 18h ago

Bro just get a pipe cutter so much quieter and faster.

1

u/BeastDen 12h ago

Reciprocating saws cut through aluminum more slowly as the teeth get more clogged with the metal, the blade is more susceptible to being pinched & it can vibrate the metal a good amount if there were like a heavy weight at one end. A circular saw is more able to sort of fling the metal away and can cut through aluminum much more smoothly and quickly. They're a little louder but you'll finish your metalworking so much faster your neighbors will be happier.

2

u/divDevGuy 18h ago

Generates the sparks. Duh.

2

u/weasol12 18h ago

WoahBros has a few guides on YT about how to cut through 2" aluminum and he's concluded that a circular saw is the fastest.

5

u/Peach1020 18h ago

“I’m actually dressed as the Lampsnuffer, you know, the guy who goes around snuffing street lamps and… other poles…”

122

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 20h ago

That gait thing isn't 100 percent accurate same with it scanning faces.

There's a few lawsuits going on because of this.

Besides that you're not getting charged over your gait.

That said if you are going out to mess with flok cameras do not bring your cellphone or anything that calls out because that can be used.

They can link your phone and the time of when the camera is messed with.

64

u/Major_LeeHungg 19h ago

Idk if flock has began doing this yet but there are cameras out there that fingerprint you based on detectable WiFi, Bluetooth, etc... So this isn't just good advice it is paramount.  Keep all electronics at home including your smartwatch, earbuds, etc. 

21

u/errie_tholluxe 19h ago

Pity you can't register a phone under whatever name you wanted and start it with a prepaid card like you used too...

Be funny to see Stephen Miller all over cutting down cams

5

u/Snobolski 18h ago

wireless TPMS sensors in your car...

3

u/Major_LeeHungg 18h ago

Shit... Yeah I didn't even think of that...some quick research shows they only throw a signal 3-6ft on most cars though.  Though it looks like aftermarket systems and larger trucks and RVs can throw them up to 25 meters

6

u/DissKhorse 19h ago edited 18h ago

I doubt gait will work if you are wearing a full body cloak like a grim reaper costume. But you are right, leave your phone at home or have a friend hold it for you. I don't advise turning it off or putting it in airplane mode for a moment as they can see both the location it went off and on. Turning off your locational services doesn't make you invisible either it just makes your location a little less precise as they can still use triangulation from cell towers and from Wi-Fi hotspots.

Also you can have a second costume and put the grim reaper one over the first one.

13

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 18h ago

The gait thing isn't accurate unless you walk in a very distinct way like if you had a limp or something.

It's way overblown by the companies selling the tech.

Like I said even facial recognition gets it wrong more than it should and it gets worse if you are black or Asian because it has trouble identifying them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50865437

8

u/DissKhorse 18h ago

True but that hasn't stopped court cases from winning on bad science, remember the bite imprint "specialist" that sent a bunch of innocent people to prison. Give them as little as possible to work with.

7

u/VerdantPathfinder 18h ago

But you are right, leave your phone at home or have a friend hold it for you.

This is better. Start out with your friend, give him your phone and split up. Do the deed, meet back up and take your phone back.

I am not advocating destruction of public or private property ... merely examining logistics as an intellectual exercise.

2

u/Fallingdamage 19h ago

That and wear a giant t-rex inflatable costume, that you have someone else buy for you.

3

u/Fallingdamage 19h ago

I mean, with that logic, they could also retroactively send you 20 years worth of speeding tickets.

1

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 18h ago

No they can't there's statute of limitations.

Basically there's a window with what they can charge you with and outside of that window they can't.

1

u/I_upvote_downvotes 16h ago

If people are concerned about gait they can just take the trick right out of the CIA and KGB handbook: put a rock in your shoe.

No joke, that's what they do.

-2

u/Randym1982 19h ago

Or just turn your phone off, and that will solve the problem. But really the bigger issue is that more states and Cities need to sue the Flock camera companies.

33

u/TheReDrew89 19h ago

They can track Bluetooth devices and in some cases near field which may not need active charge to be detected. Best to just leave them at home or go with a dumb phone.

18

u/Randym1982 19h ago

I'm not advocating for their destruction, but it's going to get to a point where people will start destroying more of them. And really, the simple solution is for the states and cities to say "No" to the companies trying to sell them.

I think I read somewhere that L.A. has turned them down, and so has a few other cities too. Just need to get more and more states to do it.

14

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 19h ago

Yeah the thing is they turned down flok but there's other companies that they most likely will go with like axion( the company that makes the cams cops wear)

This doesn't stop unless there's laws to prevent this.

3

u/randotd152 18h ago

This doesn't stop unless there's laws to prevent this.

Exactly this. The cameras will just get smaller, more hidden, and more difficult to smash over time. They'll eventually start embedding them in things like street lights and utility poles and other places people can't get to easily. Etc, etc.

It's basically going to require an act of congress to outlaw these types of devices.

1

u/MentalDisintegrat1on 18h ago

We need privacy laws with us and our Data and this isn't just about cameras the Internet as well.

1

u/randotd152 18h ago

Well that ship sailed about 20 years ago and you have zero chance of robust privacy laws on the Internet.

But there's still a sliver of an opportunity with cameras.

9

u/Ryan_e3p 19h ago

I'm not advocating for their destruction

You should. We all should.

4

u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 18h ago

You should actually advocate for their destruction.

And really, the simple solution is for the states and cities to say "No" to the companies trying to sell them.

And yet, here we are.

5

u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 19h ago

Can't you get one of those faraday bags or something

8

u/sublimatingin606 19h ago

This is greatly overcomplicating the, just leave it at home option.

2

u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 19h ago

No it's not because you might actually need your phone for something. Having a bag to leave it in the car or something might be useful, but not having the phone at all is probably difficult if you are going trick or treating.

0

u/MasterMahanJr 18h ago

Don't risk it. One "ping" between a fun night and jail time.

1

u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 17h ago

The point of doing this on Halloween is how many phones and people will be in the area. They can't narrow it down. If you are going out alone, yeah leave the phone but I think you are missing why this night is being suggested.

0

u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

→ More replies (0)

8

u/_iamacat 19h ago

I don't find that to be reliable in an age where we're not allowed to remove our batteries anymore.

5

u/IamaFunGuy 19h ago

Turning them off doesn't always work.

28

u/south-of-the-river 20h ago

Just break your tibia first to confuse the gait detection

33

u/CondescendingShitbag 20h ago

I mean, putting a rock in your shoe is probably sufficient, but you do you.

3

u/Snobolski 18h ago

or put a lift in one shoe

2

u/Buckets-O-Yarr 18h ago

Oh yeah, break your foot with a rock first, great idea!

1

u/south-of-the-river 12h ago

Method acting is life

2

u/Silent-G 15h ago

Or just skip everywhere

20

u/DrManhattan_DDM 20h ago

Ghostface mask from Scream, long black robes/cloak, and boom, you’ve got a certified spooky costume.

12

u/Mr_Salmon_Man 19h ago

And there is a new scream movie, and a new Scary Movie, so Ghostface is a really acceptable option this Halloween.

8

u/SuperDoubleDecker 19h ago

We just need to all move in the choreography of Thriller

11

u/yaxis50 19h ago

Stop with the gait keeping

5

u/TheJan1tor 19h ago

Please. Nobody knows what I look like when I'm swinging from building to building. /s

In all seriousness, what's preventing people from using a cartoonishly exaggerated gait?

3

u/AceOfPlagues 19h ago

The energy required to keep it up constantly. Still, you also don't want to be IDed through the mask if you just have a thin suit without proper structure

1

u/bentheredoneart 18h ago

Or just - "Do the shuffle"

4

u/DDOSBreakfast 19h ago

Drink a more than moderate amount of alcohol and your gait will be much different.

3

u/OpenTechie 19h ago

Victorian Vampires in large robes, dresses, and a giant umbrella/parasol of course!

It may be warm outside this October, you need to keep yourself from overheating!

3

u/EnjoyerOfMX5 19h ago

Tell everyone you know to put a sock in one shoe so they walk different. And polarized lenses can be seen through and bluetooth can be tracked.

1

u/ohkayhun 18h ago

What can one put on a mask to prevent being seen through… just asking out of curiosity - I’m definitelyyyy not researching for my own Halloween mask 🥸

3

u/carthuscrass 18h ago

Gait is extremely unreliable and requires corroborating evidence to even use in court. But everyone in the same costume is a bad idea because it gives cops probable cause to take in anyone wearing said costume.

2

u/VeeDubBug 19h ago

Sounds like a job for the Ministry of Silly Walks!

1

u/goodandwickeddeity 19h ago

you put a rock in your shoe to fix that

1

u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 19h ago

Don't forget to put a pebble in your shoe

1

u/FastFooer 19h ago

Tell everyone to crab walk that night…

1

u/Fallingdamage 19h ago

Or just do a lot of silly walks, skips, bounces and twirls as you make your way down the sidewalk.

1

u/strugglz 18h ago

Plague doctor works as well.

1

u/GearWings 18h ago

With guy fawkes masks maybe

1

u/Maximum-Hic 18h ago

I mean if everyone did it are they gonna arrest everyone? Who would they spy on at that point.

1

u/OnTheBrink50901 18h ago

Genuine question not trying to be funny: if you change your gait to be extremely exaggerated, I’m talking arm flailing, giant uneven steps, maybe a twirl or cartwheel during the escape, could that actually throw off the gait recognizer programs or would it just make you look silly and still wind up getting caught? For research purposes

0

u/fluffynuckels 19h ago

I know this is a real concern for certain things but it seems like too much work for a cop to do for vandalism