Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Vandals got hold of a Flock camera — instead of destroying it, they revealed what's inside

theblaze.com · 6h · first reportShare

Flock cameras are having a hard time identifying some objects and mistaking them for license plates. But as the devices may be struggling to accomplish their most critical task, they seem to be identifying something else: people. 'The detector cropped an American flag patch on the rider's saddlebag as if it were a plate.' Hackers recently ripped down a Flock license-plate reader camera that sat above a road, opened it up, and copied the data inside before giving the information to tech outlets. What the data allegedly revealed is that software running on the device "explicitly detects people" as well as vehicles, license plates, and bicycles. A joint report from Wired and 404 Media explained that through several weeks' worth of logs, the Flock camera generated more than a million images. Using a processor similar to that of a "midrange smartphone," around 20 built-in apps on the camera's processor handle a range of tasks like motion detection, taking pictures, uploading data, and recei