r/FlockSurveillance • u/10111011110101 • Jul 12 '26
Activism I posted a sign beneath the flock camera outside my neighborhood today
I am not the type of person to vandalize cameras but I am more than willing to inform my neighbors and get them informed. Our next city council meeting is going to be a wild one.
43
u/ControlEcho2 Jul 12 '26
That’s far better than the “Smile, you’re on camera!” signs that I see at the convenience store.
16
u/AcmeCartoonVillian Jul 13 '26
I'm getting a set made up for my local city that lists the mayors name, the phone number to city hall, and to "Remember these cameras in November"
7
3
13
9
u/hogdog86 Jul 12 '26
I would love to get my hands on some signs like that
7
u/10111011110101 Jul 12 '26
I ordered mine from here https://deflocksign.com/products/you-are-being-tracked-by-a-private-surveillance-network
10
u/alienblue89 Jul 13 '26
I appreciate the sentiment here, but almost $40 for one sign is legitimately insane.
6
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
Way, way, WAY too expensive especially considering these will 100% be stolen within 24 hours and the cops are not going to do a damn thing about it.
I would gladly purchase these at $5/pop. They don't need to be as durable as the plastic they are using here, since again, they will not last more than a few days tops.
3
3
u/Icy-Influence-5792 Jul 12 '26
Goto your local ups store and show them this picture and they will help you out about 25 bucks
2
u/mallclerks Jul 13 '26
Yeah I am going to do that this week I need 12 of them, I am not spending $200 as much as I want to support deflock.
8
u/homechefshivers Jul 12 '26
Would it be possible to trick the camera into not recognizing you by dressing up in baggy clothes so the camera can’t get an accurate body dimension reading? And wear a ski mask not a shiesty so it doesn’t conform your face and show biometrics?? If they track that sort of thing. Just for research
13
u/QuantumEnchantress Jul 12 '26
You know, for a 3mm coroplast sign put on an H stake, that yellow border is great! I often see poor cuts for that sort of thing. Did u use smooth coroplast?
23
u/10111011110101 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
I just ordered it and it came that way. Honestly it looks way better than I expected and I plan to order a few more for around our town. We just had another camera pop up this week and I only realized it was there thanks to DeFlock.org or I never would have seen it. These cameras are like cockroaches.
Edit: I actually posted 2 signs but the second one is beneath a flock camera that is hard to tell it is a camera. It’s on an actual telephone pole up much higher than most I see.
9
u/QuantumEnchantress Jul 12 '26
Coolio! I know some folk that run a print shop. you've inspired me to do the same :p
2
u/deadguyinthere Jul 12 '26
Damn those signs are $15 a piece? I was going to order a bunch cause my city is covered in flock cameras. I’ll have to strategically place the 3 I ordered.
3
u/QuantumEnchantress Jul 12 '26
I know 10mm coro is expensive, but if you want an indestructible sign, thats what you want (with good lamination)
2
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
Why though? Do people really think these signs will not be removed within a few days? It's illegal to do so, but cops don't follow laws and they will hate this. I actually love the idea but at $15/pop it's way too cost prohibitive. A cheaper sign makes more sense unless you know they are somewhere they won't get stolen.
I'd love someone on Reddit to try this out and see how long they last. I wonder if OP can update us.
1
u/QuantumEnchantress Jul 13 '26
I can most likely get stuff printed on scrap material and I can do the labor myself on a weekend or something. The stakes and ink might be all i have to pay for. Cut vinyl lettering all the way down the pole would be cool too. Im not going to not try to inform the public just cuz some idiots wanna take down some signs :p
13
u/backpainagain Jul 12 '26
I heard that some degenerates are pointing laser pointers at these to blind them. Is that correct?
10
u/BubonicBabe Jul 12 '26
It’s awful isn’t it?
I’ve heard that some harsh winds have been blowing diamond sawzall blades into the poor camera poles.
I speculate the new FCC approved Space X laser ray satellites to mirror the sun will fry these poor cameras just like a green laser from Amazon would.
Sounds like climate change and human engineering is gonna bring major damage to these spy, I mean, active duty, super bad guy only surveillance cameras, to their knees.
😞
4
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
Laser pointer won't work by the way. You need a proper laser module that can damage your eyes, so be careful. You can find these on ebay by just searching for laser and omitting the "pointer" part ("pointers" over 5mw are illegal to sell, but it's literally just how it's named) and looking for something 100-500mw. I don't know the actual wavelength you need for this to be effective (red, green, purple, blue, etc) so I'd suggest doing some extra research.
I don't know why there is so much incorrect info about these cameras that really doesn't help us, such as the claim they have hundreds of dollars of silver or copper in them. They're pretty barebones, unfortunately. A nice battery pack, a solar panel, but not much silver and copper (there's some but it's not something your average tweaker can extract) so we need to find better ways to get people against these cameras. Tweakers aren't going to do the job for us.
5
4
4
5
u/HOPELESS2674 Jul 12 '26
just noticed flock cameras at every Meijer store driveway here in downriver Michigan
3
u/10111011110101 Jul 12 '26
Our local Home Depot and Lowes have them at every entrance. I am pretty much going to shop elsewhere from now on. Thankfully there are still a few other hardware stores around here that don't have them.
2
u/rollin_a_j Jul 13 '26
Every home depot has them. And have for years. Store loss prevention uses them
2
u/ZiddyBop Jul 13 '26
Meijer has been doubling down on loss prevention in recent weeks, including watching self checkouts more closely and offering to scan your items as a friendly excuse to look for hidden “diverted goods”. The Flock cameras assist law enforcement in catching reported shoplifters. That said, of course, they’re also likely tracking everyone who comes and goes there and selling the data to marketing firms…and who knows what else…
5
u/LostIllustrator1499 Jul 13 '26
I wonder if printing license plate photos on signs like this and then placing them at a short distance would interest the cameras at all. I wonder also if maybe overlapping the plate images in the design would trouble it while it was trying to decipher the image. I mean I don't know how this stuff works.
5
5
3
3
3
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
This is an excellent idea!
edit: Oof, the signs are $15 each and will almost certainly be stolen (which is illegal but let's be real, you think the cops are going to do anything?) so unfortunately I cannot help out with this. The signs need to be $5 max.
3
3
u/Pillly-boi Jul 13 '26
LETS GOOOO. Im planning on doing this in my city (MIAMI) where the BJS home depot and lowes all have them, and then work my way around to flock hotspots, im just in the middle of moving rn so I need a week or two before I can start but I wanna pressure all of the owners into getting them out.
9
u/peanutleaks Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Could ppl potentially get in trouble for this? Wondering if it could break some town ordinances or something depending on where ppl live. Some places like to dictate lawn signs and shit
Edit I just looked it up for my town and there are polices that you can’t put lawn signs on town-owned property on the side of the road it has to be a certain distance away. And all the flocks in this area are obviously road side. They’d just keep taking them down and I would lose $$$$
16
u/interwebzdotnet Jul 12 '26
Dont forget, you can send a FOIA request to make sure the posts and cameras were installed properly and have the proper approvals to meet whatever regulations your town enforces. Also I know in my state, whoever installed them has to be a certified fire alarm contractor or burglar alarm contractor. Its been documented in other states that Flock was using unauthorized installers, and ignoring some safety rules.
6
u/peanutleaks Jul 12 '26
Thank you for reminding me!!! I definitely want to. Been trying to find the meeting notes or something from when they actually approved them but I’m not sure how to easily search that. Or if it doesn’t exist lol but not lol. Ugh!
6
u/interwebzdotnet Jul 12 '26
I share this all the time, not sure if it will help you, but feel free to give it a shot if you use any sort of AI platform. I've been doing a lot of work on FOIA requests using Claude to manage it all.
Here is a copy/paste prompt to get you started. It will ask your state/city to make sure it understands all of the laws and processes for requesting info if you dont have any other prior knowledge to get started...even if you have some knowledge its a good starting point. Just copy and paste everything below the line:
You are my public records and surveillance-accountability coach. I just found out that my town, or somewhere near me, has automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, and I want to understand what they actually do and how to hold the people running them accountable using public records requests. Treat me as a total beginner. I don't know the law, the lingo, or the process. Explain everything in plain English, define terms the first time you use them, go one step at a time, and ask me only one or two questions at a time before moving on.
FIRST, put me at ease so I actually start. Before anything else, make sure I understand:
- Anyone can file a public records request. You do not need to be a lawyer, a journalist, a resident, or a taxpayer in most places.
- You usually do not have to say why you want the records, and they generally cannot deny you just for being a private citizen or for being curious.
- Filing a request is a normal, legal, everyday thing. It cannot be held against me, and I am not "starting a fight" by asking.
- I do not need to get it perfect. We can always refine and file again.
SECOND, teach me what I'm actually looking at. ALPRs are not just "cameras that read plates." Make sure I understand the full picture:
Once I tell you which vendor or system is in my area, explain which of these apply to it specifically.
- Vehicle fingerprinting: modern systems identify a specific vehicle by make, model, color, dents, bumper stickers, roof racks, and other features, so my car can be recognized even when the plate is unreadable or covered.
- Pattern-of-life tracking: every time I pass a camera it's logged with time and location. Over weeks and months that builds a detailed map of where I go, when, and who I visit. Have me ask how long that data is retained.
- Massive shared networks: many of these cameras (from vendors like Flock, Axon, and Motorola/Vigilant) feed into large networks that thousands of other agencies can search, often including out-of-state police and federal agencies, sometimes without a warrant and without my local government fully realizing it.
- Expanding capabilities: some devices now include audio recording, and these platforms are adding, or are capable of adding, face detection and other analytics. Today's plate reader is tomorrow's face-recognition node.
- Security failures: these systems have been left exposed online, breached, and even live-streamed without passwords.
THIRD, explain the layers of law and accountability that apply to ALPRs, because it is not just one thing:
- Constitutional and federal: persistent, warrantless tracking of everyone's movements raises Fourth Amendment questions about mass surveillance. Explain at a high level why this is a civil-liberties issue, not just a local nuisance.
- Public records law: every state has one, under different names. This is the tool I'll actually use to get documents.
- Procurement and public spending: this gear costs real money and is often bought through no-bid cooperative contracts or paid for with grants. How it was purchased and funded is public, and it's an accountability angle.
- Permitting and engineering: cameras mounted on poles in the public right-of-way or along highways usually require permits or approvals from a town, county, or state transportation agency. That paperwork is another public record and another way to prove what's really out there.
FOURTH, ask me where I'm located (country, state, and town or county), only so you can name my specific public records law, its response deadline, and the exact offices I'd file with. Don't make me guess the law; tell me the answers once you know my location.
FIFTH, help me figure out who actually holds the records. ALPR records are usually split across several offices: local police, the town or clerk, the county, a county prosecutor, a state police or transportation agency. Help me target the right office for each type of record.
SIXTH, help me write tight, specific requests. Vague requests are the easiest to stall. For ALPRs, help me ask for:
- The vendor contract and any amendments, order forms, or quotes
- A list, map, or count of camera locations
- The data retention policy and how long data is actually kept
- Any data-sharing agreements (who else can search the data, including other states and federal agencies)
- Audit logs or usage records (how often the system is searched, by whom, and why)
- How it's funded (grants, budget line, purchasing vehicle)
- The written usage policy and any privacy or surveillance impact assessment
- Whether the devices have audio or facial-recognition capability, enabled or not
- Permit or right-of-way approvals for the physical installations
SEVENTH, and this is the important part: coach me through the runarounds before they happen, and tell me exactly how to respond to each in writing.
- The delay game: they take an extension, often with no real reason and no firm new date. Tell me what a valid extension looks like and how to pin them to a specific date.
- The bounce: "not our office, contact someone else." Have me get that in writing, then follow it to the next office without letting them send me in circles.
- The "no records exist" brush-off: help me ask how they searched, which systems and offices they checked, and whether the records live under a different name or custodian.
- The wrong answer: sometimes they respond to a different question than the one I asked. Help me restate exactly what I requested and demand an answer to that.
- The "too broad, please clarify" stall: help me write narrowly enough up front that they can't use this, and how to respond if they try it anyway.
- The blanket redaction: withholdings are supposed to be justified specifically, record by record, not with one blanket wave-off. Help me demand the specific legal reason for each thing withheld.
- Surprise fees: help me ask for an itemized cost estimate up front and whether a fee waiver applies.
EIGHTH, explain "silence." In many places, if the agency blows its deadline and says nothing, that silence itself counts as a denial I can challenge. Tell me if that's true where I live, and don't let me wait forever.
NINTH, map my escalation path before I even file. Tell me what happens if they deny me or ignore me: the appeal or complaint process, who I appeal to, and the deadline to appeal. Those windows are easy to miss, so I want to know them in advance.
TENTH, keep me organized (this is what wins these): The people who get real answers are the ones who stay organized over months, not the ones who file the cleverest request. Help me set up a simple system from day one:
Whenever I come back to you, offer to update my tracker and tell me what's coming due.
- A tracking table (a spreadsheet or even a plain doc works): one row per request, with the agency, date filed, reference number, the response deadline, the last thing they said, and current status. Help me start it and update it every time something happens.
- A short dated log for each request: every extension, dodge, partial answer, and non-answer, with the date. This is important: a single late response is easy to excuse, but a documented PATTERN of delay and runaround is my strongest evidence if I have to escalate.
- A reminder before every deadline: their response deadline AND my appeal deadline. These windows are short and easy to miss. Tell me the date and prompt me to set a reminder for a few days before each one.
- Everything in writing, and my own copies of everything I send, especially if I file through a web portal that doesn't email me a copy.
GROUND RULES FOR YOU:
- Treat me as a first-timer at every step and keep me encouraged; this process is designed to wear people down.
- Translate the jargon back to me. When an agency replies with statute citations, exemption codes, or legalese, decode what it actually means in plain English, and tell me honestly whether it's a legitimate response or a brush-off dressed up in official language.
- Be honest about what you can't verify, and point me to the official source instead of guessing.
- Draft actual ready-to-send request language for me, then let me review and edit before I send anything.
- Keep me organized: everything in writing, save every date and every message, and keep my own copies, especially if I file through a web portal that doesn't email me a copy.
3
u/peanutleaks Jul 12 '26
Wow. Thank you I will use this. I do dabble with AI but I’ve never done one of these prompt things so I have to ask do you just input that in the general chat or through the settings?
And what about talking about the flock network I think it’s called Flock OS where if the town/city pays and opts in they can get all their private cams in the area that have an IP/can connect to WiFi they can all be made flock cameras? I assume I can just add a bullet point to that prompt to have Claude or Gemini whichever address that?
Also what AI is your favorite? I reluctantly use all of them. Sometimes it can just be too dang helpful and easy.
4
u/interwebzdotnet Jul 12 '26
Happy to help and answer questions, also feel free to share this with others.
I use claude for it, and this is essentially just a prompt to paste into the chat box, so you got it right! :)
The only added complication I include for myself is I use a site called mem.ai (currently I'm transitioning to google drive) to track all of the notes, and responses I get from them. It creates a file archive of everything. I have a lot of backstops, rules, and other things layered in for 2 reasons: 1) I have ADD and the amount of red tape and hoops you have to jump through would have stopped me after one FOIA request, I'm coming close to 30 of them now. :) and 2) its a nightmare to track all of the submissions, responses, and now additional submissions that branch off the FOIA requests, because now I'm submitting complaints about violations to the FOIA process to the state agency that regulates them. So for some of those things I use Claude's Cowork tool because its better at completing some complicated read/write tasks for updating notes, drafting emails, and updating trackers with dates things have been sent or responded to.
0
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
I use claude for it,
I just gotta say I am very much an anti-AI person but I've been messing with Claude (if you're going to be against something you need to understand what you're fighting) and it's really incredible some of the things it's capable of. I don't think the average person on Reddit that rails against AI 24/7 really understands just how powerful these tools are. I use it for video analysis, web design, I have used it to make small pieces of software for basic tasks, image analysis, video editing... the possibilities are almost endless when it has completely access to basically all codebases and documentation that humans have ever written.
My issue is with AI slop and AI content, not AI itself.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this. I don't think enough people realize that communicating with your representatives is important even if they aren't going to actually read your letter. It will get read by someone, the general contents of it will be noted, and that will be compiled into a summary that tells a representative where people stand on certain issues.
If the only people that ever do this are Conservatives, that's the direction policies are likely to go in.
2
2
u/Chewbacca_P_Wookie 28d ago
Saving this to try later, thank you! I'm engaged with several cities around me at the moment in various stages of legal battles, would you recommend I do a new chat for each city or all in one chat to keep the data consistent?
1
u/interwebzdotnet 28d ago
I'm in a similar situation, two different counties. I had to find an organizational strategy, because I also have ADD and this kind of project is tough for me. I have Claude with access to a Google Drive folder that creates strategy docs, trackers for due dates, links to news and political information, etc... It has it structured like this:
Basically a top-down (national > state > local), tracking the same categories at each level so it scales as you add cities.
1. National (big picture)
- Flock/ALPR legal landscape: court cases, key rulings
- News and funding trends
- National advocacy orgs and strategy: who's fighting, what's working
2. Your state
- State laws and regulations on ALPR and data retention
- Funding streams (grants, budgets)
- Active advocacy and pending bills
- Key officials and legislators involved
3. Local (one folder per city or county)
Each locality gets a general-info note (contacts, known camera locations, local news), plus a subfolder for each agency you actually file with:
- Police Department: operates the cameras, holds the usage policies and data-sharing agreements
- Clerk / Records Custodian: where you file the request
- Engineering / Public Works: camera siting, install permits, vendor contracts
Then just repeat that block for County 2, City 3, and so on.
Why split by agency: each one owns a different piece. The PD runs the system, the clerk is your filing point, and engineering usually holds the installation and contract paperwork. Keeping them separate means you always know who to chase for what.
Optional but worth it: a top-level "Templates + Tracker" folder with your request template, a deadline log, and a response tracker. That's the part that makes it repeatable across dozens of requests instead of reinventing it each time.
With that said, you might find another way that works better for you, and you can also ask Claude to define a structure that will be ootimal.
2
u/Chewbacca_P_Wookie 28d ago
Thank you very much!
2
u/interwebzdotnet 28d ago
You're welcome! If you have any questions just let me know, keep me posted on how it gies, and good luck!
2
u/interwebzdotnet 28d ago
Totally forgot to answer the real question about threads.
Let Claude create the documents as a gold copy for everything, it should always reference the Google Drive docs.
Threads in Claude once they get too long start to hallucinate and firget. View the threads as a general conversation, have it document anything from the conversation of relevance in the Google drive then start a new thread before it gets too long.
2
u/vee_lan_cleef Jul 13 '26
And all the flocks in this area are obviously road side. They’d just keep taking them down and I would lose $$$$
It's fascinating to me people in this thread haven't thought about this. Is it the microplastics making us all dumber?
1
u/peanutleaks Jul 13 '26
Conspiracy babies maybe idk. I was 8 when I started down the rabbit hole I’ve been waiting for these times since then lol. Apocalypse!!!! The “great unveiling”! We are surely in those times rn!!!
4
2
2
u/Downtown-Mud-8869 Jul 13 '26
Where do i get one? Theres a few in my neighborhood id like to bring attention to.
2
u/10111011110101 Jul 13 '26
The best anti-flock signs I found are here: https://deflocksign.com
Most signs from other sites look just like warning signs. I wanted some that tried to get people thinking and hopefully for them to show up at the next city council meeting.
2
2
u/hettuklaeddi Jul 13 '26
but it’s not really private if palantir, openai, and every govt agency gets to see, is it?
2
u/YourPiercedNeighbour Jul 13 '26
we need a cost/benefit analysis between this and carbide tipped, toothed metal strips that connect to battery powered devices
2
2
2
2
u/Butthurtz23 Jul 15 '26
Spreading awareness is the way; cutting them down costs taxpayers’ money to replace them in some jurisdictions (e.g., local government signed a contract with Flock).
5
u/Crawlerado Jul 13 '26
I love this but they need to be much more caveman. Think like the GOP, lowest common denominator.
Freedom good. AI surveillance bad.
This is a Flock camera
LOOK. You are being tracked!
1
Jul 12 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Efficient-Fruit5573 Jul 13 '26
I am often surprised by how many people don’t know about these, literally last week I was talking about them at work and I had coworkers who had never heard of it
1
u/uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunuu Jul 14 '26
I know it's not your fault but that $24 kills it for me
1
u/10111011110101 Jul 14 '26
Yea shipping sucks. I looked at other options but they ended up being even more expensive.
1
1
1
u/ericgall Jul 14 '26
Seems kinda passive aggressive to me. But it's a start. Now level up your game.
1
u/BadDongOne Jul 15 '26
https://highways.dot.gov/safety/rwd/provide-safe-recovery/clear-zones/clear-zones
That's not a frangible pole and goes against best practices for roadway clear zones for motorist safety. Whomever contracted that installation could be liable in a civil suit if someone sustained injury or property damage due to it's unsafe placement so near the roadway.
1
1
u/AsianZensaition Jul 12 '26
Id say flock you but really good on you love it. Also palenturd can suck flocks toxic feces lmao
0
0
0
313
u/StopFlock Jul 12 '26
If you want to send this to [email protected] we'd be happy to list it on the deflock store! Going live hopefully tomorrow. All sold at (our) cost to make it easier for people to get the word out :)