The Latest Way They're Flocking With You – Video #344
The short version: Makia Freeman's latest video ties Flock's ALPR network to a broader panopticon push, questioning whether Axon's entry into plate-reading is competition or just more of the same.
Our Take
Makia Freeman over at The Freedom Articles/ToolsForFreedom keeps doing what a lot of local news won't: connecting the dots. His new video looks at whether Axon rolling out its own plate readers in places like Tempe is a real alternative to Flock or just a rebrand of the same surveillance business model with a different logo. Either way, the end result is the same — more cameras, more retention, more departments locked into subscription-based tracking of every car that passes.
He also flags the ACLU's reporting on Flock's pattern of misleading city councils and police departments, plus that sharp Activist Post framing of the Fourth Amendment being "liquidated by subscription." That phrase gets at something we've said for a while: when your constitutional protections depend on a vendor's data-sharing policy rather than a warrant, you don't really have protections anymore. Throw in the mention of autonomous, high-speed ALPR-equipped vehicles and drones, and you can see the trajectory — this isn't staying parked at intersections.
None of this works without the public knowing where the cameras already are. That's why we keep pointing people to our camera map to see what's tracking their own neighborhood, and to our take-action page for ways to push back at the city council level before the next vendor contract gets signed.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Makia Freeman, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.