90,000 Flock cameras have quietly gone up in the US: What they track and how to check your city - ZDNET

Our gifting experts are obsessively searching for holiday gifts that are unique, thoughtful and suitable for any budget. Flock cameras are everywhere - even in my small town, quietly using AI to identify your car and surveil your movements. But did you consent? Probably not. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. By the time I learned that towns all around me in upstate New York had installed Flock “Falcon” cameras, they were already tracking every passing vehicle, including mine. In most of those communities, there had been little warning and no public discussion. I first noticed them because of what happened in Saranac Lake, a village near me. Residents protested last spring, officials were forced to reconsider, and the village ultimately voted to cancel its contract with Flock Safety. Soon after, the cameras came down. Also: Duress passcodes explained: How they work and why they can land you in court The same can’t be said for many other US towns, where Flock’s AI-enabled cameras actively surveil residents without clear consent. My small town, with a population of about 11,000, has several Flock cameras. I’ve spotted them on utility poles beside roads and intersec