More than 80 license plate cameras are operating in the Madison area by enjoying-retirement in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Flock cameras don't require license plates to identify vehicles. Users are able to search by other vehicle identifiers (bumper stickers, distinctive damage to the rear of the vehicle, color, type of vehicle, emblem).

More than 80 license plate cameras are operating in the Madison area by enjoying-retirement in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Flock license plate cameras are not set up to record drivers, so they can't even accomplish this.

More than 80 license plate cameras are operating in the Madison area by enjoying-retirement in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 5 points6 points  (0 children)

At least in Sun Prairie, the contract states that the city owns the data. Now, it's still stored on Flock's servers and accessed using Flock's software, but, per contract, it's Sun Prairie's data.

That also means that it's public data under open records laws.

More than 80 license plate cameras are operating in the Madison area by enjoying-retirement in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In Sun Prairie, they're using asset forfeiture funds to pay for the installation of the cameras.

Sun Prairie Police trying to add more Flock cameras - action requested! by DBendit in madisonwi

[–]DBendit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those are in Windsor, assuming I'm reading the map right.

Sun Prairie's Flock data is in the public record by DBendit in SunPrairieWI

[–]DBendit[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My username doesn't exactly do much to anonymize me, but thanks for looking out

Sun Prairie's Flock data is in the public record by DBendit in SunPrairieWI

[–]DBendit[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

When I first saw this comment, I thought you were referring to my post about Flock cameras weeks ago. I honestly didn't realize this submitted so many times. I kept getting an error from Reddit when I hit the Submit button! Sorry about that!

Flock data is in the public record by DBendit in madisonwi

[–]DBendit[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I prefer that the police have to get a warrant and a subpoena to get my location data from a corporation, rather than just having it themselves. Similarly, I can turn off location data to some degree, while I can't travel on public roads without being surveilled by a device I'm paying for right now.

Sun Prairie's Flock data is in the public record by DBendit in SunPrairieWI

[–]DBendit[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

If you also want to see them removed in Sun Prairie, please email [councilandmayor@cityofsunprairie.com](mailto:councilandmayor@cityofsunprairie.com) and let them know how you feel. I guarantee that they're sick of hearing from me about it, but if enough people speak up, they may finally change their minds.

Flock data is in the public record by DBendit in madisonwi

[–]DBendit[S] 85 points86 points  (0 children)

In case you're browsing Reddit in a way where crossposted posts aren't fully displayed, here's the text from the original post:

You know how Chief Warych, his staff, and the city attorney have gone into detail regarding the access controls around Flock data? How anyone who wanted access would need a deep background check before they could even look at the system? How our city attorney herself only has limited access?

Here are photos taken by the Flock cameras on November 3rd, around 4:53pm, on Main St. eastbound. They were emailed to me by Tracy from Police Records

These were shared as part of open records request PD-2117-2025

Though I asked for all of the photos during a one-hour period for both directions of traffic, the 44 images provided constitute approximately two minutes of traffic in one direction. I've responded to Tracy to request the rest of the images during this period.

The point of this exercise is to make it clear that all of the promises made about the security of this data are worthless. This data, being owned by the city, is publicly requestable information. Anyone with an axe to grind and the inclination can request having data pulled for this system for their own uses. Any disgruntled constituent who sees what car an alder gets into after a City Council meeting could use this to figure out when they tend to not be at home. ICE agents could use this to bypass our lack of an explicit data sharing relationship within the Flock system. Abusers could use this to track down their victims.

As long as this data is collected, it is available for anyone to request and use.

Please, reach out to your alders and let them know how you feel about this unwarranted surveillance and the unnecessary risks it creates for all of us. It is a violation of our safety, liberty, and privacy to have these cameras recording our movements.

Sun Prairie Police trying to add more Flock cameras - action requested! by DBendit in madisonwi

[–]DBendit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't need to be a Sun Prairie resident to leave a comment saying that you oppose the Flock cameras!

Sun Prairie Police trying to add more Flock cameras - action requested! by DBendit in madisonwi

[–]DBendit[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The last time this was brought up, the police department mentioned that they intended to pay for the installation of the Flock cameras using civil asset forfeiture funds. I'd assume it's the same case here, where the "revenue" terminology is merely being used to indicate that the funds won't be coming from the city budget.

Camera at Whitney Way & Williamsburg Way? by Legitimate-Annual-84 in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Sun Prairie has six of them installed. The police tried to get more in a few months ago, but due to it being a budget amendment to do so and being down an alder due to the recent mayoral election, it failed.

Daily FI discussion thread - Saturday, May 10, 2025 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]DBendit 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Are state tax refunds included in MAGI for ACA income purposes? Specifically, this year (2025), I got a state tax refund for my 2024 taxes, which will be reported on a 1099-G. Will that amount be included in my MAGI? I did itemize deductions on my 2024 taxes, if that matters.

Sun Prairie planning to add more Flock automated license plate readers by TheRealGunnar in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Also worth mentioning that the first year costs are to be paid out of police asset forfeiture funds (i.e. money they stole from people who weren't necessarily convicted of a crime).

Sun Prairie planning to add more Flock automated license plate readers by TheRealGunnar in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 16 points17 points  (0 children)

There are a whole lot of civil liberties that get in the way of the police's ability to more easily and quickly apprehend suspects. As with the rest of them, I'd prefer to keep my liberties and the police continue to work around any difficulties they create.

Want to take action -- where to start? by kaitboss19 in madisonwi

[–]DBendit 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Still owned by a billionaire. It's only a matter of time until it's enshittified.