The Morning Rant 8/4/2026 [Doof]

CBD looked deep down on the bench for a fill-in for this morning's rant and found me. OK then - I'll give it a go!

I've been noticing a growing number of articles and X posts lately about the increasing amount of "safety" cameras (officially known as "license plate readers" or LPRs) being deployed around the country. CBD brought up this topic in his Morning Rant on 7/9/26 (remember - don't comment on old threads). This is another huge part of the surveillance state in which we currently live.

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Does the current surveillance state constitute "unreasonable searches and seizures"? Sure seems like it to me.

A Forbes article from the pre-Covid era compared the modern surveillance state to George Orwell's book 1984. The article made distinctions between government being the primary source in the book and private industry being the primary source in 2019. In the relatively short time since that article was written, those lines have gotten blurrier.

As Orwell's 1984 Turns 70 It Predicted Much Of Today's Surveillance Society

George Orwell’s famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four turns 70 years old next month. Looking back on its predictions and the state of the world today, how much did it get right in its predictions of a dystopian surveillance state where every word is monitored, unacceptable speech is deleted, history is rewritten or deleted altogether and individuals can become “unpersons” for holding views disliked by those in power? It turns out Orwell’s predictions were frighteningly accurate.

This is from May 2019 so add 7 years and change to that 70.

In 1984, it was the state that determined what constituted acceptable speech in keeping society orderly.

In 2019, it is a small cadre of private companies in Silicon Valley and their executives that wield absolute power over what we are permitted to see and say online.

The atmosphere of free speech on social media got worse during Covid but has gotten noticeably better since Elon bought Twitter and the other giants dialed back on their ridiculous censorship. Going in the opposite direction - The State of Minnesota has recently decided to assert a claim to absolute authority over permissible speech with the Shiloh Hendrix case.

In 1984, it was the state that made use of its vast surveillance empire to maintain order.

In 2019, a landscape of private companies so large it is almost uncountable, monitors, monetizes and manipulates us.

***

In 1984, the government funded the vast empire of equipment and personnel needed to maintain constant surveillance of its citizens.

In 2019, the public themselves fund the great surveillance empire that monitors, monetizes and manipulates them. Citizens purchase the latest digital devices, upgrade and maintain them at regular intervals, pay for the power and internet services needed to connect them and grant unlimited rights to their most intimate information to private companies.

Enter "Flock Safety" here in 2026. The distinctions made by Forbes in 2019 are rapidly disintegrating. Was it all government owned and operated property in Orwell's book? I don't know. But in 2026, "Flock operates on a subscription/lease model only. Hardware is owned and maintained by Flock and remains their property." (Source - getsafeandsound.com)

Grok provided this note:

Customers (including government agencies) own and control the data/footage captured by the cameras. Flock does not sell that data, and sharing is controlled by the customer. The distinction is important: the physical cameras belong to the private contractor (Flock), while the data belongs to the contracting agency or organization.

So the customers (mostly government agencies at various levels) own the footage / data. Which is provided by Flock Safety. The unmentioned part is if/how Flock Safety themselves also review and/or retain the data. The public - who are the indirect billpayers - should know that!

First, let's take a look at who owns Flock Safety. According to Grok with sources cited:

Flock Safety (legal name Flock Group Inc.) is a privately held, venture-backed company with no single public owner or parent company. (bgr.com)

It was founded in 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, by Georgia Tech alumni Garrett Langley (CEO and largest individual shareholder), Matt Feury, and Paige Todd. The founders retain a significant ownership stake (estimated around 21% combined in some analyses), alongside employee stock ownership plans and numerous investors. (dealroom.co)

Major investors include Andreessen Horowitz (a16z, which led a $275 million round in 2025 at a ~$7.5 billion valuation), Founders Fund, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Bedrock, Greenoaks Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Meritech Capital, Coatue, and others (dozens in total). The company has raised roughly $950 million to over $1 billion across multiple rounds and has seen valuation signals around $8.4 billion in 2026 reporting. (bgr.com)

It remains independent and founder-led, with no acquisition by a larger corporation. Note that while Founders Fund (associated with Peter Thiel) is an investor, Thiel does not own or control the company. (coloradosun.com)

Peter Theil's name recently came up in an X post from Wall Street Apes that hit my feed

People are very uncomfortable with the fact that Flock Cameras investor Peter Thiel shared over 2,400 emails with Jeffrey Epstein and now Flock cameras are pointed at little kids playgrounds

Just take this location, “Here's a flock camera pointed directly at the schoolyard, monitoring where each kid walks, how they get home, if there's an adult with them, which car is picking them up”

But it even gets worse than this, I’ll provide in the video an area next to a kids water splash pad that has a huge amount of Flock cameras pointed right at it

They say it’s because the cameras are there for enhanced security at high risk locations, but the connection to Epstein has people more than concerned about these camera placements

But it's just for "safety", right?

Here's another post from Wall Street Apes. Video at the link.

American is going to the gun range and she gets into the parking lot and notices something concerning

There are 4 Flock cameras "pointing into the entrance of the parking lot. Not the street - into the entrance, so they can read every license plate that comes in here"

"I'm sure there's no ulterior motive behind this either…."

I was able to locate this location as the Eagle Sports Range in Cudahy, Wisconsin

CBD mentioned the website deflock.org in his post. This is an outstanding site which contains a map of the US with the location of every Flock camera. As of last night, it was reporting just over 125,000 "license plate readers" in operation. Definitely check out that site.

If you are on X, in addition to DeFlock, the accounts Orwell Day and Have I Been Flocked? are worth following.

Some of you may have seen some of the anti-Flock related videos I have posted recently on my ONTs. Many more are hitting my X feed (which you also should follow!). Here are a couple.

Truckers against Flock?

A woman found her plate on haveibeenflocked.com. The judge was "mortified" reading through her victim impact statement.

Here's one I posted on an ONT recently. How do Flock employees like being recorded?

But not everyone is against Flock.

Police Officer quits immediately upon Flock contract cancellation

Here's a situation where Flock cameras were said to be helpful

I'll admit that this does give me some brief second thoughts about these "safety" measures. A good result from ill advised measures is a rare exception, though. Overall, I agree with the countless people who oppose this type of surveillance because it is a violation of the 4th Amendment. It is also way too likely for misuse to occur.

6 Savannah Police employees placed on leave over possible misuse of Flock cameras, mayor says

Milwaukee Officer Charged for Flock Database Misuse

I am hopeful that there will be more and more pushback against these "safety" cameras which will lead to them being removed. At the same time, I wonder how many elected officials are "investors" in Flock Safety.

From @MAGACharlie2024

Thanks to CBD for letting me fill in this morning. If you're so inclined, follow Mr. Doof on X @doof2112 or do the email thing – doof2112 at proton dot me.

posted by Open Blogger at 11:00 AM

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