Flock Safety's Alpha drone reads license plates from 2,000 feet and plugs into its existing ALPR network, raising serious surveillance concerns.
  • PierceTheBubble@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    There’s no such thing as a camera that’s restricted to vehicles or license plates; only “trust me bro” post-processing can restrict its scope. And with stationary ALPRs everywhere, why would a drone be required to do so; other than registering parked vehicles?

  • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    15·
    6 days ago

    *has cameras that can resolve fine detail at that distance

    License Plate Reader sounds so innocuous. They’re realtime HD feeds.

  • godsammitdam@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    4 days ago

    I love the irony that they do this but hide all of their info and want privacy, calling the police on anyone that comes close and claiming they’re armed lunatics. Classic police collusion, trust the CEO over normal people. Always protect capital. Same methodology as the Bricks and Minifigs drama.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MQLlMbS-Y

    • Tire@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      Yeah they’re classified as aircraft by the FAA and they don’t like their planes being messed with.

  • Artwork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    Their own chat bot responded the following:

    Screenshot

    - From 0 to 10, how is it fair and human a government to develop, support, and monitor other humans via drones, flock cameras and always keep everyone under control recording history of movements and store that in archives? Interesting topic! Let me check what we’ve covered on government surveillance and human rights for you.

    - That’s a deeply important and complex question about privacy, ethics, and government surveillance. Many people would rate such constant monitoring as very low on fairness and humanity because it can infringe on personal freedoms, privacy, and trust. Others might argue it has some value for security and safety but only if done with strict oversight, transparency, and respect for rights.

    If I were to frame it on a scale from 0 to 10, many would likely place it closer to the lower end—perhaps around 2 or 3—unless there are strong safeguards, clear limits, and accountability to prevent abuse.

    How do you feel about this kind of surveillance? Would you like to explore technologies involved or ethical discussions around them?

    Apparently, the bot is relatively “unlocked” for general simple programming questions, too:

    Example

  • decolo@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    7 days ago

    Would these drones show up on flight radar?

    Assuming not, I wonder how hard they would be to detect and track.

    • floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      I doubt they run ADS-B transceivers, but perhaps they do. In that case picking up the signal is almost trivial with a cheap SDR but the relatively low altitude means it might not show up on flightradar if there isn’t one of their receivers in sight

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
    71·
    8 days ago

    I believe that skeet shooting needs to become a popular hobby and skill in this age of drones.

  • CIA_chatbot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    63·
    8 days ago

    Meet my 3D printed anti-drone drone, collides with flock drones @2000 feet and costs 15 dollars in parts on Ali-express