Is the techpost legit?

“NOT LEGIT” DOESN’T MEAN I THINK OP IS LYING/MALICIOUS

[is-the-techpost-legit]

Hi there! This is a gimmick blog where I reblog STEM headlines/posts/articles/takes (hereafter referred to as Techposts) and dig a little deeper to determine if the author is representing the situation well!

More Information Below The ✂️

Why am I here?

I see a lot of fear and anxiety surrounding technology, especially among leftists—and with good reason. Modern tech companies are more powerful, authoritarian, and invasive than ever, and the fascists gaining power across the world are all for it. And modern technology is so advanced that it’s hard to tell what’s real, how it all works, and what to do about it—and the people who DO understand how it works are mostly techbros and technocrats. I hope to dispel a little bit of the fear of the unknown that surrounds STEM topics, and help leftists know how to respond.

Who am I? Why should you listen to me?

I am a 23 year old spacecraft engineer living in Cascadia. I’m an AuDHD queer leftist, and all my analysis is through that lens.

Very important: I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON EVERY STEM TOPIC!!! My knowledge base is limited to the following subjects (in rough descending order of competency):

- Aerospace engineering and space technology

- Software engineering and technology

- Electrical engineering and technology

- Fundamental physics and astronomy

- Mechanical engineering and technology

- Pure mathematics

My expertise outside of these fields is very limited. I’m not qualified to do analysis in any life science/social science field. I can do rocket science, but not brain surgery. Even in the fields listed above, I’m not an end-all-be-all expert. I can and will get things wrong from time to time.

Summoning Ritual

Tag me under Techposts you want me to look at. If I don’t think I am qualified to research that topic, I will try to let you know. Otherwise, feel free to send an ask/dm, whether to submit a Techpost or just to say hi!

Disclaimers

- A “legit” rating is not equivalent to an endorsement of anyone in the post. A “not legit” rating is not equivalent to me saying that OP is being malicious/lying to you.

- Go away TERFs! Go away fascists!

- I can, do, and will make mistakes, and I would like to be corrected if possible. If you notice one, please let me know, but provide sources/evidence. I won’t acknowledge messages of the form “you don’t know what you’re talking about” with no context or sources.

[katelyn-danger]

Are you aware that Amazon Ring Cameras are partnering with Flock to create a private database of your face, license plate, movement patterns, and then selling that data to law enforcement and federal agencies?

Yeah, it's fucked.

No, wait, what the fuck?

Voting ended onDec 8, 2025

Amazon Ring security cameras moving deeper into law enforcement with Flock Safety, Axon deals

Amazon Ring security cameras are getting more deeply into police work through deals with Flock Safety and Axon at time of rising debate over

[is-the-techpost-legit]

Is the Techpost legit? Nuance

Summary: Flock owns a network of cameras that can track primarily vehicles by their license plate, and then sells that information to police. They cannot track your specific face, but they can track identifying clothing and features. Footage from Amazon Ring cameras can now be uploaded into this network, but only if the owner of the Ring camera proactively decides to share.

Recommended action:

Do not use any security cameras that are connected to the Internet in any way. As a rule of thumb: if you need to pay a subscription fee for it or it has integration with your phone, don't use it.

Advocate against the integration of tech like Flock or Axon in your city, neighborhood, or workplace.

If you must use security cameras, a) use only LAN cameras with no cloud integration, b) angle them downwards so that they only capture the area that is absolutely necessary, c) do not give law enforcement any video recorded with your cameras if they ask, and d) delete the footage as often as possible so that you cannot be subpoenaed for the video.

Claim 1: Amazon Ring and Flock are partnering to create a private database of your face, license plate, and movement patterns.

Flock Safety is a company whose stated goal is to “eliminate nonviolent crime across the United States.” They make cameras, software, and other systems to allow their customers (police forces, private security firms, loss prevention departments, and neighborhood watches) to more effectively surveil. Their most popular products are cameras that automatically record the license plate and description of every car that passes by. These cameras feed into a private database owned by Flock.

While cars are their primary target, Flock also sells cameras that can detect the presence of a person in frame and automatically notify police. All sources I can find say that Flock's products do not use facial recognition, but they do have tools to filter through video to search for identifying characteristics. This is not the same as facial recognition, but it does allow Flock's clients to search based on things like clothes and hair. Flock does include a safeguard that tries to detect "biased or inappropriate" searches (what constitutes biased or inappropriate is not elaborated upon by Flock), but defense mechanisms like that can be sidestepped with clever prompting (the link gives the example of a prompt injection attack to exfiltrate data, but the same principles can be applied to bypass topic restrictions (tw suicide in the link).

Flock's most recent partnership with Ring Cameras integrates Ring's existing Community Request feature directly into the Flock platform. Police officers can now make a Ring Community Request directly from the Flock app, rather than having to go through Ring's own Neighbors app. This does not allow them to do anything they couldn't already do, but it does make the process more effortless. It seems that Amazon has a similar agreement with Axon, a Flock competitor.

The community request feature allows Ring camera owners to voluntarily provide their camera footage to police. It's essentially the same as the police seeing that you have a camera and knocking on your door to ask for the footage. No one can remotely access your Ring camera footage without you proactively opening the Ring app and choosing to send specific videos to the police.

Claim 2: Amazon and Flock are selling this information to law enforcement and federal agencies.

Flock very publicly markets their products to local law enforcement, retail businesses, and private security firms. They also contribute to the National Crime Information Center, which is a federal database of crime-related information. It keeps records of stolen/controlled property (like guns, boats, and cars) as well as certain lists of people. Examples of these lists include "immigration violators" and "people determined by the Secret Service to be a threat to the US president".

Flock is most likely paying Amazon for this integration, but Flock is not currently charging their customers for the service.