I noticed them first when I was driving to my friend’s house. I had read about them online but that was the first time I noticed one in person. There was no sign. There was no… nothing.
People around me don’t even know what Flock is. They don’t even see them as “traffic cameras” they just haven’t noticed them. At all. Like, at all at all. They have no signage. No nothing. They’re just a camera with a little solar thingy. All black. No one pays attention to that, and even if they do notice it, they’ll only think about it briefly. You can’t even see the Flock branding. You can’t even search up to find out what it is.
For the last 6 months living in the US I’ve been playing a simple game with myself. Whenever I drive somewhere, I count the Flock cameras. It went from 1 on the way to the grocery store that annoyed me. To 2. To another one next to my house where I walk my dog. To a few more on the way to the grocery store. A 7 minute drive, hello??? At one point I drove to Tennessee for some business regarding altbot. I counted 58 Flock cameras on my drive. Fifty… fucking… eight.
And within the last month I started noticing how they’ve always been putting them on their own poles… until now. They’re being mounted to traffic intersections. On traffic light poles. They’re no longer their own thing but a part of the government and public infrastructure. Your own taxes are paying for that, you know?
What’s the difference between what I saw in Belarus versus what I’m seeing now in the US? You mean the current lack thereof? The cameras in Belarus tracked every single person via clothing, facial recognition, and get this… fucking stride recognition. That’s the problem. Infrastructure-wise… there is no difference. And the infrastructure is all they care about right now. Because when the rest is in place… that’s just a flick of a fucking switch.
The fact they’re moving from standalone poles to traffic infrastructure… to me it means it’s more rooted in the system. I won’t lie, I’ve fantasized about going out and cutting down that Flock camera. I haven’t done that. But I’ve fantasized about it. And I understand that wouldn’t cause any harm to actual people. Only the capitalization of information. But never in my life would I cut down a fucking traffic light. That’s not mine. It helps people not die in car accidents. And that’s exactly why they’re doing it.
If someone said “I have nothing to hide so why should I care”… okay, can you please install a camera in your bathroom then? And broadcast it to anyone willing to pay money? Okay fine, what about in your kitchen? Still not comfy? Okay what about right outside your fucking house? Don’t like that either? Well that’s the fucking problem.
This isn’t just about government control and overreach. It’s corporate sponsored and milked for profit. Anyone with money can gain access to all that information. From seeing how much you walk your dog, to finding out that you stopped walking your dog, where an AI will then make the probably correct assumption… based on your lack of dog food purchases, lack of walking your dog, and recent vet bill… that your dog died. And it will then use that to advertise… say, another dog, in between those reels you scroll.
And don’t even say “they won’t be able to connect the dots.” No. They will. They do. And they always have. Data brokers exist for a reason. Someone with money could buy my SSN, home address, ID, age, legal name, shopping history… everything and more. Right now. With some money. Money… is power.
Does your tax dollars funding surveillance of yourself hit different than a company doing it privately? I think this should be obvious to everyone. 1984… flaws with the author aside… talks about telescreens forced to be installed in every house that show you the “news” and record you. I don’t think George Orwell ever fucking envisioned that people would PAY money to get a telescreen that tracks them… let alone carry it on themselves 24/7. Type every single thought into it. Let it scan everything about you.
And one more thing, on the public safety aspect: do you really think criminals won’t just… cover up their license plates? Or drive around these cameras? Or use IR flashes that blind cameras… a human wouldn’t even see it but the camera would. They’re easily bypassable to anyone who actually wants to do it and is even a little bit smart. The only victims here are the regular people. Who have their regular everyday data recorded. Packaged. And saved. Forever.
I grew up in Belarus. I’ve seen what this infrastructure enables when the switch gets flipped. And now I’m watching America build the same thing and call it safety.
the first blog post in a series called radio free america
by micr0
thank you for listening or reading