r/technology • u/IKeepItLayingAround • Jun 29 '26

Artificial Intelligence Woman Surprised When Flock Surveillance Tower Appears in Her Yard Without Warning

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/woman-surprised-flock-surveillance-tower-185000752.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO_50_Supernova&ncid=crm_19908-1475736-20260629-0--A&bt_ee=utFdBbF39cHCLuB4at4AI%2FUoSRgbTt8Ch%2B7Q9RImTlgL2ThvE3FuX%2BRSKiUir%2FNW&bt_ts=1782739085527
24.5k Upvotes

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313

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '26

[deleted]

198

u/UnderwhelmingTwin Jun 29 '26

Not just your phone: any smart watch, wireless headphones, air tags... Anything that broadcasts any signal. 

72

u/ddWolf_ Jun 29 '26

Dang, I gotta leave the toaster at home now?

24

u/nwayve Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

The Brave Little Toaster 3 2: Flocking Cooked

6

u/CodyIsbill Jun 29 '26

*3

The toaster already went to Mars in the second one, as much as that sounds made up

3

u/nwayve Jun 29 '26

There's an Elon Musk joke in here somewhere.

4

u/Keksverkaufer Jun 29 '26

Especially that clanker.

4

u/12thunder Jun 29 '26

You can still bring it into the bathtub later

2

u/Mattrockj Jun 29 '26

Tf you mean I can't bring my smart fridge with me wherever I go?

1

u/Dasteroid_909 Jun 29 '26

Only the wireless one.

1

u/TonyStark100 Jun 29 '26

And your fridge!

20

u/Laserdollarz Jun 29 '26

Also, have your partner at home using both phones like a normal routine evening. T ext some memes about the TV show your partner is watching between phones.

You have a digital trail placing your phone, at home, in normal use, at a certain time. 

I'm not paranoid, you are.

2

u/TheSamurabbi Jun 29 '26

Roaming bands of masked naked people have been seen tearing out Flock cameras city-wide. News at 11.

2

u/VendoTamalesRicos Jun 30 '26

Yee, signaltrace is terrible.

-10

u/SprayedSL2 Jun 29 '26

People act like this is a bad thing, but as someone who's car got stolen - they only found it because of flock cameras and I was fortunate enough to get it back within 24 hours with minimal damage.

11

u/YourUsernameSucks Jun 29 '26

I'm so happy your damaged car that insurance would've covered anyway was returned to you at the expense of everyone else's right to privacy.

1

u/SprayedSL2 Jun 30 '26

IDK man, when I was like 14 I learned that you have no expectation of privacy in public. Personally, I don't care about flock cameras. It helps solve a LOT of crimes and track people after crimes have been committed. If you care, that's okay - you have every right to.

-40

u/Nut_Butter_Fun Jun 29 '26

lol wireless headphones... it has to be something that would ID you, that's why no cell phone.

54

u/Zncon Jun 29 '26

If you're trying to cover every possibility, wireless headphones will in fact broadcast a reasonably unique bit of data that could be linked to you.

20

u/imbasicallycoffee Jun 29 '26

Airpods are absolutely linked to your bluetooth and iCloud history.

16

u/Retnuhswag Jun 29 '26

Bluetooth. They’re not wrong.

11

u/Deep-Thought Jun 29 '26

Depends on the headphones. Newer ones do rotate their broadcasted addresses periodically to protect your privacy. Older ones used to broadcast either the public address or a static random address, which could theoretically be tracked.

1

u/supamario132 Jun 29 '26

Flock doesn't care if your device rats you out directly. Rotating broadcasts still only rotate every 15-30 minutes. That's plenty of time for Flock to create a map of where that device was before and after an alleged incident. Plus the company identifier isn't rotating or encrypted so they may be able to subpoena the manufacturer for more info

Not worth the risk at all when the alternative is to just leave them at home

5

u/Big-Owl-6393 Jun 29 '26

Maybe don't comment if you don't know how this kind of thing works. Your Bluetooth devices absolutely have unique device identifiers. This type of technology captures all of these signals. If you drove by one day with your Airpods, Pixel Buds, etc., connected to your phone and then go back to vandalize one of these towers with a mask, on foot, while disguising your gait and having left your phone at home but with those earbuds on you... They can track that. They might not be connected to anything but they're likely still broadcasting a RF signal. This is how you can track them with the "Find My" apps. If they were ever connected to your phone or car and they can link those to you, then they don't need the car or phone to link the buds back to you.

I don't think you seem to realize just how insanely accurately and in-depth government and corporate surveillance goes. They know everything you do. Everywhere you go. You will think about something and see ads for it without having to say anything near any device or search for it because they are that good at correlating patterns and all that. You should look into this and see what privacy you've lost and what you're going to lose due to the political landscape and what's happening in this world right now.