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> One key feature of Flock is its national lookup tool. > Axon, simply, does not have a national network. Meaning that it would not be possible for cops in one
by wxw 2mo ago
> One key feature of Flock is its national lookup tool.
> Axon, simply, does not have a national network. Meaning that it would not be possible for cops in one jurisdiction to search cameras across the country.
[...] Police departments using Axon can enter into data sharing agreements with each other, though.
> Denver, just like the City of Ferndale, explicitly mentioned this lack of this national network as part of its decision to ditch Flock for Axon.
This (probably alongside all the bad press Flock has gotten) appears to be the crux of the switching. Ultimately, the tech actually being deployed seems similar.
Also interesting:
> One reason why journalists, activists, and residents have been able to learn so much about what police use Flock for is that the company has built auditing tools that the public can access through records requests.
- wolfi1 2mo agoit took Last Week Tonight years to get these records in one particular case
- Barbing 2mo agoProbably this from 3d ago: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lnBPhelCdWE https://youtube.com/watch?v=lnBPhelCdWE Generally, silly jokes but a very serious research and fact checking team.
- pphysch 2mo agoThis is a step in the right direction. Everyone hates public surveillance until they become the victim of a crime, but it's critical that the surveillance is owned and controlled fully on an appropriate level. You should fully own and control your home security cameras. Right now many homeowners are shipping their data to national datacenters. Municipalities should fully own and control their public security cameras, on municipal datacenter resources. Data sharing / federation should always be intentional and time-bound. It should be impossible for a small town cop to unilaterally access security records from a random city he has no jurisdiction in.
- gilthelander 2mo ago> You should fully own and control your home security cameras. Right now many homeowners are shipping their data to national datacenters. In practice it's difficult to do and offer remote access.
- asteroidburger 2mo agoIt’s not a technical limitation. Nobody sees the need to build it that way though.
- nullsanity 2mo ago[dead]
- dghlsakjg 2mo agoNot at all. If they can get the data to their server to store it, they could just as easily not do that and instead serve it from your local device by proxy through their server. It’s t he exact same difficulty as what they are already doing. Arguably easier since you don’t have to manage file storage in the cloud.
- gilthelander 2mo ago[flagged]
- FireBeyond 2mo agoHow long before Axon turns data sharing "opt out"? > One reason why journalists, activists, and residents have been able to learn so much about what police use Flock for is that the company has built auditing tools that the public can access through records requests. As someone else says, "in theory". Also of note, their "Transparency Portal" is... not. I know of at least three agencies in my County who are using Flock who are not listed on the Transparency Portal...
- gilthelander 2mo ago[flagged]
- zeeveener 2mo agoIt forces a paper trail of warrants and other "official" pathways that we would normally consider proper policing. If another district wants to ask a question, they have to follow the appropriate chain of command and use the correct tools. Flock appears to have been a way for them to work around all of that and just answer any question they had willy-nilly.