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News@lemmy.worldbywho@feddit.org
28 days

To protect immigrant students, a Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused.

chicago.suntimes.com English

https://web.archive.org/web/20261011225528/https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2026/10/09/to-protect-immigrant-students-a-chicago-area-college-told-flock-to-remove-its-cameras-the-company-refused

21
    Elgin Community College resorted to covering the surveillance cameras with trash bags and zip ties. Public records show that federal immigration authorities have accessed Flock data at other Illinois colleges.
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    • hamsamrich@lemmy.world
      28 days

      Axion is the real threat! Been around for a long time too. Not to mention the dozens of other companies that are currently operating surveillance cameras over most intersections in America.

        • lividweasel@lemmy.world
          28 days

          I assume you mean Axon, formerly known as TASER and the supplier of most body-worn cameras.

        • lemmylump@lemmy.world
          28 days

            • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
              28 days

              they tried it , but the company came back out to remove the paint/covering.

                • shartgargle@lemmy.zip
                  28 days

                  Use truck bed spray.

                    • lemmylump@lemmy.world
                      28 days

                      This is the way.

                    • AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip
                      28 days

                      Good, sounds expensive. Keep doing it.

                  • EgoNo4@lemmy.world
                    28 days

                    Could someone please explain an European what is up with Flock? Who installed them, where and why? And at whom’s behest?

                      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
                        28 days

                        flock is installed as part of a mass surveillance apparatus by a company based in the US, is ANOTHER SAM altman-look alike, it uses AI to track people, cars, every little detail, even phone signals/apps. Thiel heavily invested in it. the flock cameras started to appear over residential areas, colleges, low income areas more than actual traffic areas like roads, highways,etc. by 2026, 300k+ was already installed, from less than 100k a year ago. they are doing this quickly so they can say there is too much to take down(City governments were totally complicit up until people were destroying them.

                        they started to appear in Canada already, i dont about EU yet. and yes its aligned with trump,ICE, palantir goals.

                        it is important where the flock cameras are targeting, everywhere people are likely to have anti-fascist gatherings, movements, protests,etc.

                          • EgoNo4@lemmy.world
                            28 days

                            Thx for the explanation but… Who is financing all of this? I mean, the infrastructure alone, that can’t be cheap. Is it out of Flock’s own funds? Did the authorities ask for these to be installed? Don’t you need some kind of paperwork to install these? Idk, nevermind who / where they’re tracking… The data they track is a huge breach of privacy, don’t the US have any laws against that, wtf?!

                              • 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍@lemmy.world
                                28 days

                                The US is financing it with gifts of taxpayer dollars. No the US does not have any laws for rich people.

                                  • EgoNo4@lemmy.world
                                    28 days

                                    50 third world countries in a trench coat…

                                  • SplitTheUSInFour@lemmy.world
                                    28 days

                                    Government at all levels. Local government puts them around parks to stalk children, state government has them all over the highways, the bigger city governments have them at every traffic light, the federal government has them god knows where.

                                    That’s the scary part. We have no idea how deep the federal government is running this system and we don’t know if its combined with satellite imagery.

                                    It very likely is though. This country has become an enemy to its own people.

                                    • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
                                      27 days

                                      its your local govt, if not trump is doing it nationally. theres a reason cities are not giving pushback at all on the AI datacenters, until recently. they want to monitor people potentially threatening thier political elected positions.

                                  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
                                    28 days

                                    So flock sells (or leases?) hardware (the cameras) and provides subscriptions to their database for biometric or other ai recognition stuffs. It’s not just automatic plate readers- it’ll also identify your car by make, model, rust spots, number stickers, etc. (or try to, anyways,)

                                    The people installing them are the property owners- Home Depot (a big box hardware store,) installs them in their lots, for example. Local police agencies (and the city/town governments that govern them) install them on traffic signals, as another example. There are thousands of police agencies ranging from the city/town/small town through county, state, and federal levels across America, and frequently agencies dedicated to a particular beat, like a specific transit system, or a city’s parks, or a college campus.

                                    It’s difficult to imagine that once cameras are up Flock can keep them there without the permission of whomever owns the property they’re installed on.

                                    So either the college doesn’t own it (on a traffic signal, would be the city, probably,) or the college is full of shit- “whelp we tried! Sorry!”

                                      • SplitTheUSInFour@lemmy.world
                                        28 days

                                        Yes. I have extensive experience on seeing these systems implemented and I can back this post up. The camera’s analytical capabilities can be summed up as “whatever the camera captures, it looks for patterns in other camera’s footage and stores everything it sees.”

                                        The cameras are deliberate in what they do. The system is specifically designed to track individuals, but also groups and this allows them to basically track everyone.

                                        Is all the US government needs to do is put the faces from IDs to this tracking system and it becomes an instant hunting database. They can find any person across the United States of America in near real-time.

                                        Its considered “crude” to them at this time because in rural areas, it’s only grabbing license plates coming and going but it’s expanding rapidly and every single local government has been on board with. Why? Revenue.

                                        I’m not going to get into this too much but we tried offering non tracking systems that were intended for public safety. The local governments did not want them at all even though the camera system did a better job at its intention. The US government is filled with greedy people and they want everyone’s money. That’s why Flock is here.

                                    • lechekaflan@lemmy.world
                                      28 days

                                        • Pratai@piefed.caEnglish
                                          28 days

                                        • FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish
                                          28 days

                                          But who pays for and authorises the cameras? Is this any different than me asking the contractor who installed the ULEZ cameras on my commute(*) to take them down, when I should have complained to the council

                                          (*) Made up scenario

                                          • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
                                            28 days

                                            you can use a saw, or destroy the camera, make it costly for them to replace it.

                                            • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
                                              27 days

                                              Tresspass them?

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