Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves
www.404media.co
Flock left at least 60 of its people-tracking Condor PTZ cameras live streaming and exposed to the open internet.

I am standing on the corner of Harris Road and Young Street outside of the Crossroads Business Park in Bakersfield, California, looking up at a Flock surveillance camera bolted high above a traffic signal. On my phone, I am watching myself in real time as the camera records and livestreams me—without any password or login—to the open internet. I wander into the intersection, stare at the camera and wave. On the livestream, I can see myself clearly. Hundreds of miles away, my colleagues are remotely watching me too through the exposed feed.

Flock left livestreams and administrator control panels for at least 60 of its AI-enabled Condor cameras around the country exposed to the open internet, where anyone could watch them, download 30 days worth of video archive, and change settings, see log files, and run diagnostics.

Archive: http://archive.today/IWMKe

  • twelvety@fedia.io
    11155·
    10 hours ago

    Um, so? What am I missing here? You’re in a public place with no expectation of privacy.

    Public streaming webcams have been a thing for three decades. There’s even an entire Geocaching category where you must be captured to prove you were there.

    • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
      51·
      8 hours ago

      Public streaming webcams have been a thing for three decades.

      Most of those public streaming cams are streaming to a private server, and not 40k cameras contributing to the same global database. They’re also not being tracked with AI and storing license plate numbers, facial recognition, etc. to be categorized and later searched by law enforcement for, whatever reason they want.

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      6 hours ago

      For your detractors, I’d like to point out that nothing stated here in untrue.

      The problem is feeding 10’s of thousands of video streams, from a single entity, to the police and government. And now they’re using AI to sort the data, which is a powerful use case for AI.

      Were we to magically feed all the webcams and doorbells and security cameras to a single source, it would still be a technological mess to sort out. Flock’s system is purpose built to track us.

      • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.onlineEnglish
        22·
        7 hours ago

        It is kinda insane. I mean if someone was standing outside their window with a notepad writing down everything they see and hear people would be creeped the fuck out. But put a camera there and the same asshole is sitting on a computer desk in a different city they are ok with?

        • kayzeekayzee@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          18·
          7 hours ago

          Also the notepad guy is immediately faxing their notes directly to the police and any advertising data brokers who ask for them