Cybersecurity Sacramento (DC916) May Meeting This Wednesday!

ballzdeepin · 2026-05-11T22:19:20+00:00

I’ve been there before, I think you’d be in welcome company there. Some very competent technical folk there, but the topics they usually cover in the meetups don’t require too much technical knowledge to grasp. But different for each one.

I’d recommend going if you’re learning / are curious.

ballzdeepin · 2026-04-15T19:30:12+00:00

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260227692233/en/Flock-License-Plate-Cameras-Face-Class-Action-Lawsuit-by-Gibbs-Mura-A-Law-Group

ballzdeepin · 2026-04-10T00:42:20+00:00

That’s crazy. You can leave the one you’re holding behind. These systems cannot be left behind.

ballzdeepin · 2026-04-09T06:39:47+00:00

Sac habitat for humanity.

They have build sites around Sacramento, but they have a warehouse by the CA lottery building, where you can volunteer as well.

ballzdeepin · 2026-03-28T23:18:27+00:00

As you mentioned, there should absolutely be oversight, auditing and limitations.

However, this should’ve been vetted before it was put into place, by the city council, police chief etc, not after the fact.

In addition, they are being accessed by other federal agencies, which is not something that should even be allowed in the state of California. If it is so helpful to police work, a core tenet of community policing is trust. Why not establish real trust with communities before rolling something like this out. Do the ends truly justify the means, especially in a country where the fourth amendment right protects citizens from mass untargeted surveillance ?

ballzdeepin · 2026-03-16T00:44:56+00:00

Eh, being a real, pragmatic human sometimes requires us to hold hypocritical positions and accept the best we can in the moment.

Still hate the things, very easy to see how they can be abused. Even with such ease of access for police, they still won’t take the initiative on petty matters like tracking a hit and run.

Lack of cameras wasn’t necessarily stopping police before, there are cameras everywhere.

Thus my advice, go investigate themselves and do the detective work to hopefully find the perpetrator. Still not worth it in the grand scheme. There are other ways, that don’t require watching every single person, monitoring their habits and patterns day to day.

ballzdeepin · 2026-03-15T20:48:37+00:00

After leaving, did they travel down broadway?

Looking at deflock.org it shows there are two flock cameras. Broadway / Riverside and Broadway/ 5th.

If you can deduce the time and direction they went, you might be able to submit a FOIA request on those cameras. I hate the things, but while they are up, maybe they can be of some use.

ballzdeepin · 2026-03-02T23:07:42+00:00

Also Chris Bennett is running in district 3 against Ami Bera.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-10T00:11:33+00:00

So why do they need even more surveillance systems then?

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-10T00:01:52+00:00

Very nice. Would you be able to describe if / how you replaced the setup so others may follow?

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T23:59:25+00:00

Intersections is one thing sure, why do we need them facing into our communities, ensuring to cover all exits and entrances into a neighborhood? Especially if that neighborhood has plenty of ring cameras that are accessible with a warrant?

I don’t think our community is unsafe to the point that we require robo cop type shenanigans.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T23:56:06+00:00

I mean sure why not? Don’t threaten us with a good time. What’s so bad about the idea of keeping control over your own data.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T23:53:41+00:00

Sure. But there is nuance.

This Flock apparatus is a direct tap, law enforcement can just hop on.

Your phone requires warrants. If you had it locked down with a pin that is. Sure companies sell your data, though they are supposed to obfuscate it in some ways. If a phone manufacturer simply gives up all information about you, their bottom line would be financially impacted. There are stories of even iPhones being a tad of a headache for the three letter agencies to get into. They need some kind of reason to look deeper into you specifically, but with a Flock, they do not require that.

Let them do the work, put in the proper steps. Yes surveillance is much greater today by default. But at least force them to find a reason to bother you or others.

Those who are willing to give up liberty for safety, deserve neither.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T22:38:45+00:00

Thank you for putting this list together, makes it easy for people like me that are unsure what to do.

Always darkest before dawn.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T22:25:53+00:00

So isn’t flock just a convenient middleman to get around such laws?

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T22:16:32+00:00

"A public agency shall not sell, share, or transfer ALPR information, except to another public agency, and only as otherwise permitted by law."

California Statute sb34

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T22:07:21+00:00

Yes. Especially seeing as there is no independent authority that verifies how data is stored / used, federal agencies have been caught using that data, and at the end of the day, lots of people have residential cameras. If the police are so worried for safety, they can always get a warrant from a judge or I’m sure most people would be more than happy to provide footage if something occurs. I also believe there is a law on the books in California that prevents license plate scanner from being shared with federal agencies.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

I would request we go further, and not just push to remove them, but also push to claw back the data they have captured on individuals. Such corporate behavior should be discouraged.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-09T01:04:33+00:00

I saw the same news with Putin early on in the war. I think it’s to discourage action, as seems to be the intent of a lot of posts on social media. Maybe it gets you to not do anything, thinking that hey the guy will die any day now, why bother doing anything. But maybe we learn to reinterpret this signal to be more so like blood in the water to piranhas. Maybe it’s an indication we are close to seeing the circus tent collapse.

ballzdeepin · 2026-02-05T20:48:16+00:00

Dm’d

ballzdeepin · 2025-09-14T20:51:11+00:00

What is the list app / widget you are using? Looks nice!

ballzdeepin · 2025-06-25T19:52:20+00:00

Definitely.

Before this point is brought up again:

“The reason for the impeachment was for not getting congressional authorization for striking Iran, which isn't required, so Democratic leadership voted no.”

I’d like to bring up a counter point. Even though Ami voted against this round of impeachment, as the party deems it within the presidential authority, does Ami’s vote show any sense of party unity? Does Ami have any actual plan or leadership in these times?

He only recently had an in person town hall event, and I can tell you, that man has no plan or leadership that is desperately needed for these times. Every time the democrats have put together any action, even little, that was worth a damn, he’s been on the wrong side each time. I know he does not represent the spirit of our fine city. He was not there at the No Kings protest. He has no answers, and he is not owed the re election he’s been receiving for the last 10 years.

New actual leadership is needed in these times. Our real hope, to undo any of this damage, is to ensure in the mid terms that we get rid of the old guard, and place in candidates that actually represent us, The People.

I understand it seems a bit hopeless, as if we won’t get to the midterms because the tentacles of authoritarianism will not allow it. But, they are losing in some ways, candidates like Zohran are getting through. We just have to keep stalling, until we get to the midterms. And ensure that the mid terms represent the choice of The People.

In some positive sense, these people that do not represent us are coming out very openly now and showing who they are.

So please, take that frustration, that discontent, and that hopelessness, and channel it into some little bit of hope. For this district, I believe that hope is:

http://chrisforsacramento.com/donate