The AI-enabled surveillance cameras used throughout Arizona may be a threat to privacy and vulnerable to hacking and other security issues.
Dozens of Arizona cities and the three universities have the contested surveillance cameras from Flock Safety.
A series of investigative reports from 404 Media found that Flock Safety cameras were vulnerable to public access and hacking. Some compromised cameras were recording children at playgrounds, with facial tracking so clear that investigative reporters were able to find the identities and personal information of other adults featured on those and other cameras within minutes.
Most recently, 404 Media discovered that the public had viewing and even modification access to over 70 cameras across various states.
Arizona’s cameras were not part of this latest vulnerability incident, since the 404 Media report found a majority of the compromised cameras had facial recognition technology. Arizona’s cameras only have license plate recognition technology. Flock Safety confirmed that license plate recognition technology was not impacted.
Facial recognition or no, Flock Safety cameras feed recorded material into an AI-powered system with a searchable database.
Deflock, which maps Flock camera locations, estimated there are presently about 1,400 Flock Safety cameras installed throughout the state.
Some cities are bucking the trend by giving up on AI-enabled surveillance cameras.
Both Flagstaff and Sedona got rid of their Flock cameras over these mounting privacy concerns from the public. Their respective city councils voted unanimously to give up the camera.
Flock Safety uses overseas workers to review and classify security footage in order to train its AI.
In November, congressional lawmakers asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Flock Safety over dozens of stolen customer accounts caused by allegedly subpar cybersecurity measures.
Also in November, an independent researcher found it took him “about 30 seconds, with a stick” to hack into Flock Safety cameras based on personal testing he conducted using used cameras purchased from eBay.
While Flock Safety admitted those vulnerabilities were true, the company downplayed security concerns by stating they had already issued a customer advisory on the independent researcher’s findings months before media reports emerged. Flock Safety also claimed the vulnerabilities didn’t impact law enforcement investigations or oversight.
In regard to the more recent concerns raised about privacy and security, Flock Safety dismissed them. The company referencing the recent breach as an isolated issue.
“This interface does not allow camera control, cloud access, customer account access, or use of search or analytics features. The only content visible was live or recorded video comparable to what can be observed from a public roadway,” said Flock Safety. “No sensitive or confidential information was accessed or accessible. While recent third-party coverage characterized the issue as more extensive, this was an isolated configuration issue and not indicative of a broader or ongoing concern.”
Garrett Langley, Flock Safety founder and CEO, advocated for mass surveillance as the answer to rising crime.
“I think we run a risk today as a country that a generation of people will not believe America works for them because they don’t feel safe, because in some communities you don’t feel safe,” said Langley.
Langley also addressed the recent shootings at Brown University and MIT. Law enforcement used Flock Safety cameras’ data to track down the shooter that committed both crimes.
https://x.com/glangley/status/2002018155518890067
Flock Safety cameras have also been used by federal agents to track illegal immigrants, and by law enforcement in states where abortion is illegal to track down women who are seeking or have had an abortion.
Hasn’t anybody seen the TV series “Person Of Interest”?
Everything starts out with good intentions, but then we soon realize that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live —did live, from habit that became instinct— in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”
Nineteen Eight-Four, George Orwell, 1949
The Left loves Big Brother.
If you give up privacy for safety, you’ll eventually have neither.
Didn’t they get the memo when people revolted against red light cameras???