Central Florida sheriff suspends Flock cameras after scandal involving detective
A Sumter County Sheriff’s Office detective has been arrested and terminated after investigators say she improperly accessed multiple law enforcement databases for information involving her husband's ex-wife.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/07/24/central-florida-sheriff-suspends-flock-cameras-after-scandal-involving-detective/Open linkView original on piefed.social
24 replies
We act like privacy is so important but they refuse to stop building out their surveillance network.
Im waiting for someone to start building flock flock cameras. Cameras that just look like Flock cameras but are other entities. It would make it easy to track I C E agents, etc....
I mean it would be soooo easy to do and cities are just...letting them do their thing and not investigating the cameras themselves. They dont even look all that expensive.
Their cameras have so many security vulnerabilities you'd probably save yourself a lot of head ache by just getting into one of theirs. In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if there's already massive lists of cameras you can just log into on the dark web.
And you'd be right. (sorry, YouTube link)
Siiick... anybody who could do that would be The Coolest Hacker , especially if they doxed the kidnappers and whatever license plate data was picked up, as these "crime fighting" cameras are supposed to do...
ICE doesn't use plates though and they change vehicles a lot... might be harder than tracking grandma on the way to church.
But yeah I've been having the same thoughts. A citizen-maintained network of cameras that publishes a live map of known ice locations would be pretty useful.
You could do some signals analysis, figure out what bluetooth devices and wifi networks tends to show up when ICE vehicles are close by, and use that info to track them.
I mean, both BT and WiFi will broadcast pings, start collecting data and use it against them.
Then if you have more advanced radio monitoring equipment you can probably find the radio frequencies their communications equipment use and track that.
I remember seeing a video about a police detector you could buy for your car, it listened for signals on specific police frequencies and since there is so much equipment that keeps a constant data link in the background it worked brilliantly, easily detecting every police car even civilian cars.
Remember, you can still use signals analysis even if the signal is encrypted.
Honestly a cheap dev board like an esp32 with cam module, a cellphone battery can probably make one for 50 60 bucks
Not the first of these cases and not a new / recent problem.
The only reason I can think of for not implementing a basic 4 eyes principle in order to access this sensitive information is that others, higher in the command chain, want to and do abuse these systems in this exact same way with impunity.
These systems could easily be programmed to require the officer to upload a valid judicial warrant, determine if the data matches the warrant, and determine if it was actually signed by a judge. They're not
Just a thought experiment, but what’s to stop people from impersonating Flock employees and replacing existing Flock cameras with fake mockups that do nothing? Maybe a blinky light or two? 🤔
Confidence.
Act and look like you belong and no one questions you. Hard hats and safety vests go a long way.
If anyone asks say you're doing a 'site visit' to 'improve facilities'
Or you're doing a maintenance check, so that its in good working order.
I think it would be discovered quickly when they realize that camera #47 is not responding, e.g.
Exactly. With video/bluetooth/etc data points to tie it to anyone nearby and commonly now in locations with multiple cameras covering each other. It's a trickier task than it sounds at first. Not that I've been thinking about how someone would approach removing these or anything.
These days, even the burner phone stays home when mischief is afoot.
I feel like a subsonic, suppressed hollow point .45 round would make quick work of these while being heavy and slow enough to be less worried about over penetration or missing, or maybe even just a subsonic .22 short in a bolt or break action suppressed pistol
It’d honestly be easier and more effective to just pwn actual flock cameras, because they are absolutely fucking rife with security issues.
This isn't about Flock, but public surveillance in general: I've always been interested in the IDEA of something like CCTV used in some other countries. I see the value, but then i fear shit like this. I just can't say "yes let's do it".
But I recently saw something I found interesting. Last week the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced their new program to send drones to locations when they dispatch officers to that location. Given it's direct and in the air, it naturally arrives early, giving them a visual, and doesn't just stand somewhere collecting data on the public constantly. Seems like a good way to cut out many of the concerns.
I suppose there's the risk of crashes? Maybe even hacking? But barring that, anything come to mind?
Yes, several. The legitimacy of the drone going out in the first place, the footage obtained during the flight path, the footage at the location (how much can it see?). These are a few off the top of my head. And giving the cops even more tools when half of them refuse to turn on body cameras is not something I support.
So one has been arrested. How many more instances are there of this? How many pervy cops have been fired for tracking down attractive women they see on the street, or stalking their exes/current partners exes? We need to hear about a lot more of this so cops start understanding the law also applies to the enforcers, too.
I'm glad so many people are realizing (often far too late) that these cameras are easy to misuse and fucking terrible.
Not the first, not the last. Who polices the police? Certainly not the police.