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Flock Cameras: Public Safety Tool or Warrantless Surveillance Machine?
Simeon on Security ^ | 08 01 2026 | Simeon

Posted on 09/04/2026 8:12:17 AM PDT by yesthatjallen

The debate over Flock Safety cameras divides people in a way that almost nothing else does in technology policy. Those who have had a car stolen tend to love them. Those who study constitutional law tend to hate them. Both are reacting to something real.

This is an independent analysis of what these systems actually do, what the evidence says about their accuracy and misuse, and why the most important question is not whether cameras can photograph public streets — it is whether the government should build a searchable, warrantless database of everyone’s movements.

This topic generated significant public discussion in mid-2026. The video above covers a range of viewer perspectives and counterarguments worth considering alongside the analysis here.

Why Flock Cameras Are Different From Your Phone

The most common defense of Flock Safety cameras goes like this: your phone already tracks you everywhere. Police can get your GPS data with a warrant. Flock cameras are less precise than that. So why worry?

SNIP

(Excerpt) Read more at simeononsecurity.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: cameras; flock; flockcameras; flocksafety; privacy; surveillance
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Table of Contents:

Why Flock Cameras Are Different From Your Phone
What “Convoy Analysis” Actually Means
What Flock Cameras Collect Beyond License Plates
Bluetooth and WiFi MAC Address Sniffing
TPMS Sensor Tracking
The Real Problem: Photography vs. Database
Data Sharing and the Shadow National Network
Ring Cameras, Flock, and Warrants
Debunking “Nothing to Hide”
When License Plate Recognition Gets It Wrong
Security Failures: MFA and Shared Logins
Could the System Be Designed Better?
The Debate Doesn’t Have to Be All-or-Nothing
Related Articles
References

1 posted on 09/04/2026 8:12:17 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

Best of luck with the firestorm you just created. Lol!


2 posted on 09/04/2026 8:18:50 AM PDT by V_TWIN (America....so great even the people that hate it won't leave!)
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To: yesthatjallen

A surveillance machine cleverly disguised as a public safety tool.
It’s their standard operating procedure.


3 posted on 09/04/2026 8:26:42 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Blue Lives Matter! White lives matter. Remember Iryna Zarutska and Justine Damond.)
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To: yesthatjallen

I’d already contacted my state legislator and senator about these awful things. One day you’ll take a public stand against your city council and you will be MARKED and tracked/harrassed by your town or county police until you throw in the towel and move. Or they’ll find a reason to arrest you. Or you’ll have wrong-think and will one day be arrested FOR your wrong-think. They’ll do anything to get rid of you and shut you up.


4 posted on 09/04/2026 8:27:27 AM PDT by johnnygeneric (RIP NYC)
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To: yesthatjallen

Hey I truly believe in keeping tabs on people.

The problem is, it is aimed backwards.

Instead of the government keeping track of we the people, we the people need to keep track of government officials.

We need to organize the Citizens GUARD = Government Utility and Accountability Review Department.

Who is with me on this?


5 posted on 09/04/2026 8:34:43 AM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
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To: johnnygeneric

Yes these are legitimate concerns.

The use of technology, used for the wrong reasons, is a threat to all of our civil liberties.

Let’s hope some legal safeguards can be established. Offhand I don’t know how such safeguards would function. But I recall a case where someone in law enforcement was using these cameras to stalk his ex girlfriend. Clearly a misuse of the technology.


6 posted on 09/04/2026 8:39:18 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: yesthatjallen

Like most government programs that start out with the very best intentions, they seem to always get morphed into an unrecognizable monster.


7 posted on 09/04/2026 8:40:43 AM PDT by volare737 ( Diversity is something to be overcome, not celebrated. e)
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To: I want the USA back

Yep.
“It’s for the children”
“It’s for your own good”
“You don’t want the terrorists to win, do you?”

Every time they want to take away rights and liberties there is always a similar justification.


8 posted on 09/04/2026 8:42:55 AM PDT by pburiak (You really think we can vote our way out of this? That's so cute...)
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To: yesthatjallen

Put more cameras where the majority of violent crime persists. If it fails to curb crime, ban them from everywhere. All these fancy gadgets and a spineless justice system are wasting our tax dollars, innocent people are catching it on both ends. Invasion of privacy and being mugged and/or murdered. It’s simply to make money for the watchers.


9 posted on 09/04/2026 8:44:04 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
Who is with me on this?

If the argument is that there's no expectation of privacy since it's out in public, then since it is paid for with tax dollars, then I should have access to all that data.

I wouldn't only want to know about politicians. If I knew of any commies in my town, I'd want to know what they are up to.

Years ago I bought a scanner and found it entertaining and informative to listen to the police dispatch. In the same vein, I'd be interested in the movements of law enforcement in my area.

10 posted on 09/04/2026 8:49:23 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: yesthatjallen

End Goal:

Complete enslavement of the masses using technology.

Environment created that requires this End Goal:

Legalize crime so that it becomes a true problem.

New need to combat this artificially created criminal environment:

Full Police and surveillance state using technology.

End Goal complete... Masses digitally enslaved.


11 posted on 09/04/2026 8:58:22 AM PDT by Openurmind (AI - An Illusion for Aptitude Intrusion to Alter Intellect. )
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To: yesthatjallen

That’s an easy question.

They are a money making, warrantless surveillance machine.


12 posted on 09/04/2026 9:00:36 AM PDT by chickenlips (Neuter your politicians )
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To: yesthatjallen

Flock camera locations by state

https://flockcameralocations.com/locations


13 posted on 09/04/2026 9:13:09 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: johnnygeneric

johnnygeneric wrote: “One day you’ll take a public stand against your city council and you will be MARKED and tracked/harrassed by your town or county police until you throw in the towel and move.”

Or to put it another way, since it’s possible that your firearms might be used in a crime, it’s justifiable to remove your firearms from your possession.

We simply don’t legislate on hypothetical ‘it might happen’ because there are no end to the ‘might happens’.


14 posted on 09/04/2026 9:15:33 AM PDT by DugwayDuke (Most pick the expert who says the things they agree with.)
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To: yesthatjallen

So, a police officer needs a warrant to observe what’s going on in public?


15 posted on 09/04/2026 9:17:00 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle1
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To: yesthatjallen
Related:

Gun store removes private Flock camera over customer privacy concerns

16 posted on 09/04/2026 9:19:24 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: yesthatjallen

Yes.

Next question.


17 posted on 09/04/2026 9:21:52 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton

once upon a time that was called the Militia...

...and all it took was the Oklahoma City Bombing to make it all disappear...


18 posted on 09/04/2026 9:25:59 AM PDT by sit-rep (I may be Dumb, but I'm not Stupid!)
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To: All

How about useless waste of money ?


19 posted on 09/04/2026 9:39:11 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Warrantless surveillance machine.


20 posted on 09/04/2026 9:53:03 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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