A wave of polls and news reports indicates widespread American opposition to data centers, Flock surveillance cameras, and Meta's AI-equipped Ray-Ban glasses, which critics have nicknamed 'pervert glasses.' Recent events, including a grand jury declining to indict a man filmed damaging Flock equipment and protestors against data centers gaining online praise, underscore how deep and public this hostility has become.
Public records show former Alpharetta, Georgia patrolman Dustin Bozzo ran 56 unauthorized searches on a fellow officer's license plate—his ex, whom he had been secretly dating in violation of department policy—between March and May, then tracked a second officer's car 29 times after noticing it near hers. He was placed on leave in July and resigned in August as the department opened an internal probe that has since become a criminal investigation.
Across the United States, individuals are disabling, damaging, or stealing Flock Safety surveillance cameras used by local police departments, employing tactics ranging from spray-painting lenses to outright destruction. In Lumpkin County, Georgia, a sheriff's Facebook post offering a $1,000 reward for information about a vandalized camera backfired, drawing over 30,000 comments largely siding with the vandals rather than law enforcement.
The Albany Police Department in Georgia posted surveillance footage on Facebook asking the public to identify a man who picked up $30 he found on the floor of a Walmart without turning it in to employees. The post, shared August 18, drew thousands of mocking comments from people questioning why police were devoting resources to such a minor incident.
Designer Simon Weckert created a garishly patterned Hawaiian shirt intended to make wearers invisible to AI-powered surveillance systems. The pink, orange and green shapes are engineered to disrupt an algorithm's ability to recognize a human outline, effectively blinding detection software while appearing as an eye-catching print to people. Weckert used an AI-driven trial-and-error process, called an adversarial loop, to develop the disruptive pattern.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe found that three Savannah police officers and one community service specialist improperly used the city's Flock automatic license plate reader system to track personal acquaintances and family members. All four were arrested last week, and two other employees had already been fired for similar conduct. Mayor Van Johnson publicly condemned the abuse, calling it a breach of public trust.
Police in Oviedo, Florida arrested 24-year-old Evan Meyer and charged him with three felonies after he destroyed what he believed was a real Flock surveillance camera. In reality, the camera was a 3D-printed decoy set up as part of a sting operation targeting people who vandalize the AI-powered license plate readers. Mayor Megan Sladek said she was unaware of the decoy operation and acknowledged the charges are controversial, especially as the city council is weighing whether to end its Flock contract.
At a San Diego City Council budget meeting, DJ and activist Anthony Ralphs appeared as Darth Vader to satirize the city's renewed contract with surveillance firm Flock Safety, delivering a mock endorsement praising the technology's ability to track 'rebel scum.' The stunt, filmed and shared online, went viral across TikTok and Instagram, reaching millions of viewers. Ralphs, who has spent roughly a year opposing the San Diego Police Department's use of Flock's tools, later revealed his identity behind the mask to take credit for the performance.
Flock Safety's network of AI-powered surveillance cameras has expanded rapidly across US cities and towns, but communities from both political sides are now organizing against it. Critics cite privacy concerns, lack of oversight, and fears about how police and other agencies use the collected data.
Communities are pushing back against Flock Safety's automated license-plate cameras through visible, often theatrical protests, including people dressing as Darth Vader and tying red balloons near devices. The growing trend, dubbed 'Flocklash,' reflects widespread unease about the expansion of tech-enabled mass surveillance in public spaces.
Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley used a Fox News interview to urge critics to find a middle ground between privacy and public safety, as opposition to his company's AI camera network intensifies. The remarks follow a Washington Post investigation that uncovered dozens of cases of police misusing Flock's surveillance tools, including to track women, prompting Langley to issue a public apology earlier this month.
A public research project called the Atlas of Surveillance has compiled the largest known database tracking police surveillance tools used across the United States, including automated license plate readers made by Flock Safety. The tool lets residents search by location to see whether local law enforcement agencies have deployed these camera systems in their area.
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