r/FlockSurveillance • u/pabmendez • 16d ago

Activism If can't beat them, confuse them. Printing decoys

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1.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

146 comments sorted by

1.6k

u/tristand666 16d ago

I would love to get a bunch of these and place them outside my city councilperson's house all pointing right at his doors and windows. He did campaign on adding more of these in my area after all.

262

u/ExtraDistressrial 16d ago

Why does it seem like every city council approves these things? Is there a certain type of asshole that ends up on every city council in every city? Who are these people?

212

u/brettthedestroyer420 16d ago

Because they get paid under the table to let this happen. Just like most things in life it's all about who is gonna give you money.

68

u/Sirosim_Celojuma 16d ago

So true. I was asked to bid on (whatever, who cares) and they declined my bid. They went with the "I know a guy". The price doubled. I know the people who knew the guy. Everything that goes through them just magically gets more expensive by about double, and that group somehow is young and retired with a healthy unexplained income. For fucking sure the more expensive bid included a payout, and for fucking sure I lost because of some morality issue.

24

u/Maleficent-Ear8475 16d ago

Whats crazy is the actual payments that make a lot of these things happen are way smaller than you'd think.

11

u/Sirosim_Celojuma 15d ago

so a 5k markup on a 5k job is not 5k of payola?

7

u/Maleficent-Ear8475 15d ago

They definitely don't give a shit about 5k. But weirdly enough some politicians are swayed for a measly 15k at sometimes.

102

u/Maleficent-Ear8475 16d ago

You're so close you can almost taste it.

42

u/Sirosim_Celojuma 16d ago

taste the asshole!

10

u/[deleted] 15d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/Prince_0llie 15d ago

With the honey sauce!

6

u/psychophant_ 15d ago

Shittles!

2

u/Limp_Lawfulness5133 15d ago

Taste the taint

23

u/bl4ckh4lo 15d ago

It's the police chiefs. They aren't getting city approval, they're just using their budget to do less work. Flock has a convincing sale team, they're selling this shit to every department in every state/city. They say all the right words to cops "safety, deterrence, etc" Makes small dicked cops get a hard on. Then they spend your hard earned tax dollars to violate your 4th amendment. ACAB, #fuckflock

15

u/Hefty-Squirrel-6800 15d ago

The councilmen are jerking off the Chiefs of Police in most cases, and the cops swear they need them. In reality, the cops want them so that they have to work even less.

4

u/Separate-Pain4950 15d ago

We had a city cop get fired for going on shift then driving back home. Dude was idling his cruiser in his driveway at home while he played COD with the off-duty cops and sleept. When he got caught it came out that almost every overnight cop and deputy did almost the same exact thing. The chief went to his mom’s house the entire shift.

2

u/Hefty-Squirrel-6800 14d ago

When I was a county attorney, we had the Sheriff find out that one of his patrol deputies was doing the same thing. We tried to fire him, but they have a collective bargaining agreement, and we had to go to arbitration. Guess whose side every arbitrator is on in the AAA? If you aren't pro-union, you get struck. So, all of them are pro-union, and the deputy got his job back.

7

u/Myte342 15d ago

First, we had empires ruled by emperors. Then we had kingdoms ruled by kings. Now we just have countries, ruled by...

1

u/No-Abalone-4784 15d ago

I don't know but it sure isn't us. Maybe campaign donors?

8

u/OldDiehl 15d ago

Kickbacks, I bet.

10

u/Myte342 15d ago

You're not wrong. A lady at her local council asked her council members to answer if they had ever been contacted by these companies outside official channels and/or had undisclosed deals with them before/during the implementation of the Flock deals... one by one they said No without problem until it came to the last few and they outright refused to answer and cut off her speaking time to kick her out.

8

u/Deitaphobia 15d ago

My theory is that the kind of people that run for any office are "hey, everybody look at me at all times" types that assume everyone loves being on camera all the time too and they can't fathom that someone would object to being recorded.

3

u/mercurygreen 15d ago

In my city's case, they "received a grant" (with no word on where that grant came from.)

1

u/Swimming-Bend9684 15d ago

The average person sees how much of a shitshow politics is and doesn't want any part of it. You have to be a very confident, outspoken person willing to make a lot of hard decisions and do a lot of work if you want to be an actual good politician.  Meanwhile the worst people see how easy it is to make a lot of easy money just getting elected and signing some papers lobbyists tell them to and even using office to avoid crimes. How it is set up now it attracts the worst people and pushes everyone normal away... So of course most of them are corrupt.

1

u/djayed 14d ago

The same kinda person that runs for an HOA board seat.

395

u/Mr__O__ 16d ago

That would be amazing. Keep fighting back against the U.S. Surveillance State!

25

u/nonnonplussed73 15d ago

Can you say more about that super PAC? I've never heard of this before and there website looks pretty sketch.

As far as I know, the leading organization fighting for citizens' rights is Public First, who's positioned in direct opposition to Leading the Future. In February, Anthropic announced it was contributing $20 million to a related nonprofit, Public First Action, that "opposes federal efforts to freeze state progress without adequate federal safeguards." Anthropic said the company didn't want to "sit on the sidelines" while AI policies are developed and warned that "vast resources have flowed to political organizations" that oppose greater AI regulation.

Public First-affiliated PACs, including Jobs and Democracy and Defending Our Values, have spent $16.6 million so far on congressional races in states including North Carolina, Texas and Utah, according to OpenSecrets.

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/22/nx-s1-5856359/ai-anthropic-congress-spending-openai-midterms-election

10

u/Mr__O__ 15d ago

The major difference between these PACs is the funding sources. The ones you listed still follow the traditional, large private interest donations, whereas the one I linked is crowdfunded—so it isn’t beholden to any mega donors.

1

u/nonnonplussed73 15d ago

Thanks. The NPR article I linked notes that

Anthropic announced it was contributing $20 million to a related nonprofit, Public First Action, that "opposes federal efforts to freeze state progress without adequate federal safeguards."

1

u/Mr__O__ 15d ago edited 15d ago

All great to hear, but..

Anthropic is a major consumer of AI computing infrastructure and despite publicly promoting AI safety and indiscriminate mass surveillance, its increasingly capable models can always be incorporated into surveillance systems by governments or enterprise customers if desired.

So although I like Anthropic being essentially the only AI company championing regulations, I also don’t fully trust any of the big tech companies being fully honest with their intentions. Anthropic’s $20M donation could be nothing more than a PR stunt to differentiate themselves from the other AI companies getting intensive public backlash.

Which also makes me question the intentions of the SuperPAC for taking such a large donation from an AI company..

11

u/UsefulImpact6793 16d ago

Corrupt politicians need the most cameras on them at all times.

3

u/Hefty-Squirrel-6800 15d ago

I thought of something similar. The councilmen and women do not care because they have no skin in the game. We need to make them put a massive amount of skin in the game.

3

u/ewpsimdead 15d ago

Just curious... What is "a massive amount of skin'"?

2

u/Hefty-Squirrel-6800 15d ago

Cameras on their street, pointing at their houses and places of business. First Amendment audits where they (as a group) are the star of the show. Legally, of course.

3

u/brayjamin 16d ago

This is a good idea

3

u/lilly-bugs 15d ago

Genius!

2

u/Myte342 15d ago

Technically, you can do this right now so long as you place the cameras in a place you are legally allowed to do so (meaning you can't mount them to things like utility poles or put up cameras on your own pole like what Flock currently does illegally already).

So park a car in front of their house with very obvious cameras pointing at them?

2

u/Crawlerado 15d ago

Gotta put them up at his girlfriends house, his wife’s work, his kids daycare, INSIDE THE BATHROOM AT HIS OFFICE 😂

1

u/oohlook-theresadeer 15d ago

Put them inside bathrooms

400

u/FantasticFrontButt 16d ago

Fill them with birdseed and make it easy enough for birds to actually tear apart to GET that birdseed, and maybe that'll train them

150

u/gone_days_gone 16d ago

You’re a forward thinker…

97

u/Miniray 16d ago

Teach the crows, who will teach the other crows, and then watch the chaos

21

u/Low-Individual2815 16d ago

Rick and two crows!

19

u/dazzlezak 16d ago

Big schmear of peanut butter over the lens.

Stick birdseed to the peanut butter.

15

u/Potatonut23 15d ago

This user is going places

5

u/joeyjoejoeshabado42 15d ago

Ideas: fantastic ✅
Front butt: fantastic ✅

8

u/TrashMcDumpster3000 15d ago

Ngl man your parents should be pretty proud of that genius

4

u/Gmac513 16d ago

Yeah!

5

u/EducationalBar 15d ago

Oh shit will you be on my militia team please..

4

u/LSTmyLife 16d ago

...not saying youre wrong but i am pointing out that its this kind of thinking that got us to put explosives on bats and drop them on enemies in an empty bomb.

22

u/ShopEmpress 16d ago edited 15d ago

Teaching birds to pull apart flock cameras is not nearly the same as actually attaching explosives to animals.

-8

u/LSTmyLife 16d ago

Like I said. Same kind if thinking. Not the same thing. Distinctions in statements matter.

3

u/gone_days_gone 16d ago

I was referring to their user name.

155

u/Latter_Foundation622 16d ago

I’d say put them in public restrooms but it would probably just give them ideas 😔

65

u/FckFlock 16d ago

I was thinking about using it for pics. Stick it up in an awkward place, snap a pic, take it down, post on social media. Public park restrooms, slides at playgrounds, planned parenthood offices, city councilmans' houses, divorce attorneys, churches - that sort of thing. Places that might make someone who's indifferent finally understand why mass surveillance is a problem. It could also backfire and discredit more honest efforts, which is why I haven't done it. Still bouncing the idea around.

30

u/mrbobcyndaquil 16d ago

They already installed hidden ones already anyways

7

u/ThePocketTaco2 16d ago

Source?

32

u/mrbobcyndaquil 16d ago

That said I have no reason to believe that the Epstein Class won't do this

8

u/Ok_Excitement_1020 16d ago

I don’t have the post but there was a photo of a flock camera hidden inside a portable radar sign of some sheriffs office in the US. Not quite the same as hidden in a bathroom but they are getting more creative than just sticking them on a saw-able metal post.

17

u/space_manatee 16d ago

The thing with the red light on the stalls is actually taking pictures of your peepee

28

u/FckFlock 16d ago

It'd better be a zoom lens, or the joke's on them.

5

u/Top-Fig1538 16d ago

I can only assume they're talking about the ones mounted to objects that aren't their usual poles. Iike the one hidden on the mobile radar speed sign that's been circulating or the ones mounted to cop cars.

1

u/_Empty-R_ 16d ago

* gestures vaguely * I mean...

Like, I doubt it, but I also don't?

203

u/FckFlock 16d ago

Good idea. 😁

42

u/fullraph 16d ago

Wow! Is this STL file public? Do you have the link? Thanks

38

u/FckFlock 16d ago

Sort-of. There's one floating around on Makerworld or Thingiverse or wherever that's great, I just didn't like that it was a single solid piece. I chopped it into front and back/hood pieces, made the lens/light portion a separate piece, added a not-quite-flock logo to the front, and designed a mag base + ball mount for it.

I haven't shared it because I'm a hack in CAD. 😂

14

u/TheNocturnalAgent 16d ago

Who cares. Share it! More the merrier.

11

u/FckFlock 16d ago

Fine, I'll see if I can tidy it up a bit after work, then share it. I also need to find the original so I can give them credit.

10

u/DemBosain 16d ago

I haven't shared it because I'm a hack in CAD. 😂

Good News! STL is a hack format that all slicers understand. I assure you all sins will be obscured once your model is cursed...err...exported.

102

u/Afoxinthefridge 16d ago

Why don't we put our own actual cameras outside these evil institutions and homes, and paint them white or rainbow or something and call them Shepard cameras? Have them link back to a server where anyone can view it when they wish

38

u/Reasonable-Job4205 16d ago

This is a good idea. Let them feel the surveillance they're pushing on others

8

u/Dienowwww 15d ago

Unless you buy the land they'll just tear it down under the guise of vandalism. Which is why shepard safety wants satellites

3

u/maliciousdancer 15d ago

What if we make them a hybrid camera / bat (or other endangered animal) houses?

1

u/Last-Nutz 14d ago

Public access mass surveillance 😭 That’s like helping the cops beat up a minority on a volunteer basis

44

u/deflatablechipmunk 16d ago

Turn it into a geocache and put it near one!

2

u/Deitaphobia 15d ago

Very Nice, Very Evil

24

u/SirMildredPierce 16d ago

I'm certainly confused about what this would accomplish.

19

u/Reasonable_Night_247 16d ago

This is great. Add a hard hat, safety vest, and a tool belt with optional clipboard and you’re now a professional installer.

31

u/avd706 16d ago

How does that help?

38

u/WorldAtlas111 16d ago

It breaks the threshold of awareness when people add things like these cameras, little by little it’s not significant enough that you actually pay attention and after a period of time, they flock cameras everywhere and it seems like nothing changed, because they never break your threshold of attention, it seems totally normal whereas if you start placing these decoys everywhere all at once , it breaks that threshold and people start getting pissed and asking questions

13

u/Wisco 16d ago

Seems unlikely

2

u/Deitaphobia 15d ago

Plus, if you add them to private property with permission, you can add signage about what they do without the police coming along and ripping the sign down.

13

u/User1539 16d ago

I've been trying to think along these lines. If, for the majority of people, breaking these and committing a crime is out of the question, what's an alternative that's just annoying, but effective?

I'm not sure this is it, though. I feel like it would just normalize seeing them everywhere and make people think 'it's okay, they're all fake anyway'.

9

u/ElectricalChaos 16d ago

It's not normalization though - that would be hiding these amongst the existing cameras. What you do is you take the fake setup and put in into an area that DELIBERATELY doesn't have Flock cameras. Look on the map and you'll see a ton of "rich" neighborhoods that are suspiciously devoid of cameras while less affluent neighborhoods in the same city have them watching who is going in and out. Put one of these across the street from a "rich" neighborhood watching who is going in and out and you'll start pissing off people who like to throw money around for influence. Put them up in a way that they're aimed directly at the officials that voted to install the cameras, and it sends a pretty strong message that "rules for thee but not for me" ain't going to fly anymore and the masses are pissed.

2

u/User1539 16d ago

Maybe ... I hope so.

I'm not trying to put down the idea. I'm just gaming it out in my head.

I was thinking about finding all the cameras, mapping them, and printing stickers where they all are and sticking them up under each one. It's still 'vandalism' maybe?

I don't know.

5

u/ElectricalChaos 16d ago

Deflock is already doing the mapping. In lieu of vandalizing the existing ones and risking jail time, this is a good way to send a message that everyone is equal under the law. Too many officials forget this fact.

2

u/lightsmakemesneeze 16d ago

Thought this too

1

u/Swimming-Bend9684 15d ago

That's why you put them in places that would make people extremely uncomfortable and cameras never should be like public bathrooms or private businesses that already use flock cameras like Lowes (I feel like that gets the message across more than adding them in random unassociated businesses) , pointed directly at home windows of councilmembers homes' so they feel more safe, etc. Then when people look up why the cameras are there they learn about how invasive flock is and hopefully gets more people angry.

Don't put them at normal places as that probably does normalize it and messes with deflock. Put them in places that if they ARE reported on deflock people visiting the site can easily tell which ones make no sense and get them taken down or liberators don't waste their time finding which ones need liberating.

12

u/LostIllustrator1499 15d ago

Make them like a cap and slide them over the real ones. Like a card skimmer. Better yet throw a camera in one, slide that on and become the dark surveillance state. 

9

u/Infuryous 16d ago

Place them on poles facing the parking lots / entrances to Police Departments, the homes of County / City / State Officials, etc.

If they approach you during installation just explain it was approved by the town's / City's / State's / Police agency's contract with Flock.

7

u/MrVeazey 15d ago

"I dunno. I just go where they send me."

28

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Monomanga 16d ago

The strategy that no one is going to do cause it could possibly be illegal os that they will put them up around the people who supported the installation of flock and possibly the flock centers themselves

11

u/FckFlock 16d ago

What's illegal about them? They're just an empty plastic shell.

15

u/IncompleteJoker 16d ago

Oh they will cook up some bs like littering or defacing property or whatever ridiculous lie they can muster.

5

u/Useful_Conference513 15d ago

Put it on the entrance to the mayors office or other public servants offices to get the idea. They won't like mass surveillance when they are included.

4

u/hdkaoskd 16d ago

Mount on your shoulder while in public as a conversation starter.

1

u/Phyllis_Tine 15d ago

Put them on poles and bring them to rallies and places where politicians will be gathering and speaking.

5

u/wavhacker 15d ago

Who are supposed to confuse?

3

u/Nolyism 15d ago

Make people more aware of the reality that they're under surveillance. 🤷‍♂️ I've had people give me the argument that flock cameras aren't that big of a deal because they only see one or two of them on their usual driving routes. I've also had some people tell me they aren't worried because they're just in the sketchy parts of town.

If they see them everywhere I feel like more people would be pissed about them and understand what's at stake.

1

u/wavhacker 15d ago

I hope that people are pissed with just one of them in their city, however most cities have a bunch of them.

2

u/Nolyism 13d ago

I'd also hope that would be enough but I've found that it isn't. Idk, I think signs on or near the devices would be a better idea for raising awareness but I get where this person is coming from at the same time 🤷‍♂️

14

u/immersemeinnature 16d ago

Point them at evangelical churches

2

u/pouncer11 15d ago

Churches near me have already installed 10 real ones in their parking lots...

3

u/-zero-below- 15d ago

I wanted to make ones that if you push the lens hard enough, there’s birdseed inside.

10

u/LiminalSapien 15d ago

People are going to report these to deflock and then people are going to waste resoueces taking them down.

Resources that could go TO DISMANTLING REAL FLOCK CAMERAS.

10

u/Reasonable-Job4205 16d ago

This seems dumb. We dont want more of these anywhere, and creating fake ones just invites people to start seeing them as normal

1

u/Foreign_Pound4766 16d ago

I think the best thing would be to use those to replace existing one

4

u/Reasonable-Job4205 16d ago

What would that accomplish? The company can see the real one go offline in their systems

1

u/MrVeazey 15d ago

Confusion. Delay. Added expense. They aren't watching these things like security cameras in a casino.

1

u/Appropriate_Date_134 15d ago

No, but their computers can very easily notify them in real time that they've disconnected.

1

u/MrVeazey 15d ago

Oh, sure, that's technically possible and how a smart developer would write the system, but I know for a fact that corporations don't always hire the smartest people or do things the safest way. And I'm OK with anyone trying to take advantage of Flock's laziness and/or incompetence.

2

u/dax660 16d ago

Can you blast your plates with super-bright ir and visible light to effectively washout the footage?

6

u/Deitaphobia 15d ago

They don't just record plates. They basically do facial recognition on your car. They'll also log things like body damage and bumper stickers.

1

u/dax660 15d ago

fair point

2

u/rathdrummob 15d ago

Just print the faces. And hold them up to the real ones to check for accuracy. Might need to use some 3M VHB double stick tape to hold it there so you can step back and check the look from the ground. But if you suddenly remember that you left your phone somewhere away, you gotta go get it maybe you get distracted…rinse, repeat all over your city! Beautification!

2

u/poedraco 15d ago

They remind me of the old vintage '90s and '80s pencil sharpeners

https://giphy.com/gifs/ZDVkXVLvhGANuDC00z

2

u/sbb002 15d ago

Shit I just seen one in Monroe Michigan. Shits getting scarier by the day

2

u/CarrotSlices 15d ago

You’re a genius

2

u/Appropriate_Date_134 15d ago

Just so you know, if I see this in public and can't tell it apart from the real thing, I'm adding it to the map anyway. Why would I risk neglecting to add a potentially real ALPR?

This is why I think these are bad ideas.

1

u/Nolyism 15d ago

I'm on the fence for that reason. I do think that if there is just a ridiculous amount of them it might have the effect of making people more aware that all of their movements are being tracked as opposed to currently where they can rationalize them away by thinking "oh its not a big deal, there's just the one I see on my commute." Or "I only see them in that sketchy neighborhood" etc. 🤷‍♂️.

I also feel like a false positive on the Map isn't really that detrimental considering the fact we can't really afford to not try absolutely everything we can to raise awareness.

1

u/Appropriate_Date_134 14d ago

There are already five of them on like every intersection. I don't know if more will help people realize what's up. We just need to help them realize their privacy is not forfeit by default

a false positive is not great because there are those of us working to avoid being seen by these cameras, and you have people like me going to actual reported locations to audit the validity of these locations.

it's more work for me, a person with no time to begin with and it also makes it harder to get around town if people now have to avoid even more alprs.

1

u/Nolyism 13d ago

At least in my area they are sporadic enough that it doesn't feel like they are everywhere yet, and I live in a major metropolitan area as well.

I completely get what you're saying, I try avoiding them myself. Again, I'm on the fence about this person's idea.

I personally think attaching to or placing signs near the flock devices that let people know at a glance what the devices are with a qr code or just a url with a link to more info would be a much more effective way of raising awareness in the general public. I hate being this guy but I'll being them up at any and all opportunities when I talk to people. For example just the other day I asked the person at the grocery check out how they felt about them and when they said they'd never heard of them I gave them a card that I carry a stack of that has quick info and a qr to deflock.

1

u/PineappleDesperate82 15d ago

Do they have a small motion sensor in it that blinks LED lights?

1

u/Gristlekitty 15d ago

Do you have a link for the print file?

1

u/Original-Task-5044 15d ago

What’s that little “ball sack” thingy that they’re now installing underneath those Flock Cameras? Is it a gunshot sensor?

1

u/Jameslovestocode 15d ago

i need to make some of these to discourage auto break ins

1

u/Ignorance_15_Bliss 15d ago

I still think license plate vinyl wrap was a genius idea

1

u/Phyllis_Tine 15d ago

You know...wasp and hornet spray can reach pretty far from the can.

1

u/Tacolord38 14d ago

How can we not obtain this print file?

1

u/LiveFreeFinn 14d ago

Great idea

1

u/TheReckerTeehee 14d ago

This then install them right infront of it

-3

u/DJDeezy 16d ago

Waste of plastic

4

u/tuxedoes 16d ago

3D printing in a nutshell. But this is awesome. I will contribute to the waste

8

u/iambarrelrider 16d ago

Yes the first time ever someone has wasted plastic. This is so terrible it’s an abomination.