Proton Flock Camera Map
Comments
illithid0
ohihcocyc
Proton is in bed with the bears.
illithid0
Care to elaborate?
eiiot
This map is missing a number of locations near me that DeFlock (https://deflock.org/) has. For example, entrances to Stanford's campus.
LimeLimestone
> entrances to Stanford's campus
Wtf?
I'm not from the US, so please bear with me, but does this mean that, if I were to study there, I wouldn't be able to enter the campus without being tracked by a private company?
cowlevel
Yes. But Stanford is already a private company that tracks you.
etoxin
Protons map includes other countries.
b00ty4breakfast
It is very good that Flock is getting so much negative attention, but I fear that Flock may be a "trap crop" in this space, distracting the public taking all the heat while some other companies are doing the same thing without all the public awareness.
ssl-3
I'm not worried about it. It's just a word.
Regular folks often refer to any larger-than-phone, smaller-than-laptop device they see with a screen as an iPad, even if it's a hardwired Clover payment terminal running Android. The description is wrong, but it's easier to accept it than to correct it. I'm over it.
Regular folks can go ahead and call any nefariously-networked camera a Flock camera. This description is also wrong, but I'm over it as well.
b00ty4breakfast
I'm not worried about genericized trademarks. We may end up getting rid of Flock the company without getting rid of what Flock is doing.
mindslight
We need to turn town/city level "stop/cancel Flock contract" momentum into state-level privacy laws that prohibit the general behavior.
One of the things we need to develop is a rough shape these laws should take, as it's not immediately apparent [0]. For starters - prohibiting ALPR/face recognition/anything else that turns standing video surveillance into personally identifiable information. Prohibiting city/town/state governments from setting these up on public property. Prohibiting corporate owned/controlled/backhauled cameras recording at any area that hasn't been expressly authorized by its owner/occupant. Statutory limits of retention times, and a requirement that all corporate users of surveillance cameras publish their locations and retention policy.
That's what I can think of off the top of my head. It's a thorny problem because there are longstanding uses of video surveillance that are mostly okay, while only sometimes abusive. The real sea change with "Flock" is the scale and the automation.
[0] whereas the way to approach tackling online surveillance is apparent - ie privacy legislation akin to the GDPR
carimura
The two in my California neighborhood actually got cut down about a month ago and one hasn't been replaced yet (still shows active on that map). My neighborhood board voted to tell the Sheriff's department NOT to replace it.
It's interesting how there's pretty strong voices on all sides of the political spectrum calling for the removal of them (for different reasons).
olegdotcom
Why are there so few cameras in Manhattan, but so many almost everywhere else? San Francisco has a ton of them for example.
plainenglish
The NYPD already have a far more invasive system, 'Domain Awareness'.
FergusArgyll
Wow, they're everywhere. I did not realize the extent of it
etoxin
There's one in Cuba and others scattered around Mexico. Also Hawaii and South Africa.
ChrisArchitect
BatchJob
This is really great, amazing. Thanks Proton for rolling this out.
xqcgrek2
That must be a treasure trove of camera data.
joering2
Beautifully put together. I was disgusted to know Home Depot allowed for cameras facing each exit, meanwhile others like Lowe's pushed back. I will never go to Home Depo again, and find most product same pricing or few cents more expensive at Lowe's. Who cares? These people been #1 customers for HD and this is how you pay back...
I wish some rich Law Firm would file a class action lawsuit against Home Depo for violation of basic privacy. All you need is a receipt of purchased product, as there is no other way to enter their premises than to park upfront and get your license read and stored indefinitely.
pkthunder
I can only speak to my own experiences but plenty of Lowes have cameras pointing at or away from their parking lots around my area. Same with HD.
MalbertKerman
At my local pair of stores (Home Depot and Lowe's across the street), it's the Lowe's lot that has a Flock camera on every entrance.
onebeartwobears
[dead]
I'm a big fan of Proton, and I couldn't imagine using anyone else's email services, but in the age of ID verification for porn and governments trying to ban VPNs, I just hope there aren't any bears that feel this poke is too hard.