Im shocked that the company who was openly broadcasting live feeds to the public internet also exposed the details of searches!
this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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What a supprise indeed!
Remember it's not just a license plate reader. There should be a law against calling it that.
Could you explain what you mean further?
They don’t just read license plates. They analyze faces/pets/distinctive clothing to ID people, scan nearby WiFi and Bluetooth signals to track devices, scan distinctive features of vehicles (dents, scratches, bumper stickers, etc) to track them even without a clear license plate, etc… Calling it a license plate reader vastly downplays their capabilities.
It’s like someone calling a fully automatic high-powered machine gun “a rabbit-hunting gun”. Sure it could be used to shoot rabbits, but that’s vastly understating the capabilities.
ground squirrels. we use the atf tag (it's not mine, i don't know what it's called) machine gun to hunt ground squirrels. i mean you have to kill them for environmental regulation and agricultural control anyways, might as well have some fun.
It's good to point this out, I don't drive but I forget they could probably track my bike still based on it's distinctiveness, calling them license plate readers really does obscure the insidiousness well. We've heard about automatic license plate readers for years, they weren't like this so it is really disingenuous to call them such.
oh yeah. like, if the police in town have figured out who i am from my trike, there's no way the ALPR hasn't. that thing is fucking distinctive. and i wave hi to everyone (the ALPRs with one finger)
They're just public cameras. They're notoriously used to capture and record the locations of vehicles via their license plates but realistically they totally could flip a switch and start using them for things like facial recognition overnight.
They're little computers with cameras that capture everything. I think some of these types of devices run Android. Many are very poorly secured, like the article suggests. A "license plate reader" sounds like it only reads license plates, these are surveillance platforms, with cameras and microphones. They can be accessed remotely to do more than just read a license plate.
I'm thinking the person says that couching it as a license plate reader is disingenuous, because it doesn't really convey the gravity of what the devices are capable of.
Yes, ALPR is a term used for the purpose of public relations. It does not accurately describe the technology.
They're Android. And they're hella insecure. And hilariously jankilly implemented. I'd be ashamed if this was my states state surveillance infrastructure.
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It uses machine learning algorithms to identify vehicles independently of the license plate. Leaked documentation has also shown they operate facial recognition tech, in direct contradiction to the lies they tell the public. Flock is fundamentally an evil company, delivering the infrastructure for totalitarian rule, wrapped in the alluring false promise of eliminating crime. They know exactly what they are doing, which is why they are so heartily embraced by fascists in government, from the top all the way down.
So the people that like these don't mind their own privacy being invaded? Perhaps they already know if caught doing something they will get a free pass?
Generally the ones putting them in are on the side of the system that gets a free pass wherever they go. And the majority of the public that allows it to happen fall for the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" fallacy.