| ▲ | jgerrish 10 hours ago | |
> I've been very pleased to see the reaction to Flock in the US. I've been involved in civil liberties for over three decades. I was a member of the EFF and ACLU when I could afford it, and follower of the early cypherpunks. Like a lot of EFF members, I was advocating against the Patriot Act a d the methods used to pass it after 9/11. But this feels different. The fact that there is large support feom the left behind this makes me very cautious. The examples of police stalking is another thing that adds up to something fishy. I'm very glad that dangerous stalking by those with authority and power is being addressed and dealt with. But I have to wonder if the true people with power aren't using this to create laws tailored to them around future citizen surveillance methods. I had a possible opportunity to work in a really interesting space with wildlife management and sensor networks, including cameras. It would have been a dream, because it was an awesome space to bring educational material to families about the world around them. Interactive embedded sensors and media integration thst let them learn about nature. I didn't take that position because of healthcare and medical issues. Bit as a kid who grew up exploring science museums, I would have loved to have given back to the community. I am heartbroken for the result. But with Flock and the crackdown on cameras, the company is also directly in the path of the legislative and public consciousness shift. I know whatever they build will keep up with their focus on customer safety, humane wildlife management and public safety. But there's now going to be extra focus on protecting the public from employees of the firm. It shifts the narrative. It takes focus away from just educating the public. But I guess there are other large companies who can do a better job just focusing on education and inspiration. It makes me sad. I don't expect those new people against Flock to understand. I'm personally happy about the focus on privacy. But it's not just privacy and education now. The early cypherpunk view has been subtly co-opted. | ||
| ▲ | creaturemachine 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
Are you trying to conflate wildlife tracking and monitoring with this police state dragnet? If so that's a wild take. I'm pretty sure modern wildlife tracking practices are not what's at stake here. | ||
| ▲ | 15feetOfclay 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
"But this feels different. The fact that there is large support feom the left behind this makes me very cautious." Why does that make you cautious? | ||