... Flock, based in Georgia and valued at $8.4bn, says its cameras scan license plates billions of times each month in about 6,000 communities in nearly every state in the US.
... As anger grows towards law enforcement contracts
with Flock, vigilantes across the country are taking matters into their
own hands by smashing, obstructing or taking down these cameras. Many
are leaning into their creative side: “paint bombing” the devices, planting American flags at the scene after damaging them, 3D printing objects to help obstruct the camera’s view and leaving colorful messages like “hahaha get wrecked ya surveilling fucks”. Some influencers are even creating fake cease-and-desist letters from Flock, capitalizing on the company’s negative public perception.
The Guardian has identified at least 33 instances of people damaging, vandalizing and destroying Flock cameras, across 23 states, that appear to have the explicit message of protesting surveillance.
... Not all anti-Flock activism takes the form of camera destruction. A crowdsourced map created by the grassroots group DeFlock maps out more than 115,000 ALPRs across the country. The organization’s site also allows users to see if their license plates have been searched in Flock’s system, get directions to avoid ALPRs and find upcoming meetings about municipal Flock contracts. ...
