Things Are Starting to Feel Dystopian
The short version: A YouTuber's gut-check on AI cameras and ALPRs echoes what we've been saying: the dystopia isn't coming, it's already parked on your street corner.
Our Take
Jett Franzen's title says it plainly: things are starting to feel dystopian. We'd push back on one word — "starting." For the thousands of communities already blanketed in Flock Safety cameras, logging every plate that passes whether or not anyone's suspected of anything, the dystopian part isn't a future tense. It's a Tuesday.
What we appreciate about videos like this is that they're coming from outside the usual privacy-advocate circles. When someone reacting to AI surveillance broadly lands on ALPRs as a concrete example of "technology making it easier than ever to track where people go," that's the exact gut reaction we want more people to have before they get numb to the cameras bolted to utility poles in their own neighborhood. Numbness is the product these systems are selling — normalize the hardware, and nobody asks who's holding the data or how long it sticks around.
If this video got you looking around for the boxes on poles near you, don't stop at noticing. Check our camera map to see what's already logging your plate, and head to take-action for ways to push back at the city council level before "starting to feel dystopian" becomes just the weather.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Jett Franzen, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.