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239 points sodality2 | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.633s | source

Built this over the last few days, based on a Rust codebase that parses the latest ALPR reports from OpenStreetMaps, calculates navigation statistics from every tagged residential building to nearby amenities, and tests each route for intersection with those ALPR cameras (Flock being the most widespread).

These have gotten more controversial in recent months, due to their indiscriminate large scale data collection, with 404 Media publishing many original pieces (https://www.404media.co/tag/flock/) about their adoption and (ab)use across the country. I wanted to use open source datasets to track the rapid expansion, especially per-county, as this data can be crucial for 'deflock' movements to petition counties and city governments to ban and remove them.

In some counties, the tracking becomes so widespread that most people can't go anywhere without being photographed. This includes possibly sensitive areas, like places of worship and medical facilities.

The argument for their legality rests upon the notion that these cameras are equivalent to 'mere observation', but the enormous scope and data sharing agreements in place to share and access millions of records without warrants blurs the lines of the fourth amendment.

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genewitch ◴[] No.46226855[source]
How come any area that has enough homes in the data set and ALPR have Veterinarians as the most surveilled, then Hospitals, then Libraries, usually over everything else, including food and church?

The strange implication is that they're watching the vet office traffic to find people who are getting treated by vets instead of doctors?

also my parish reports 0.0% across the board, and all the parishes near me. you have to get on the coast to get above 25%.

replies(2): >>46226988 #>>46227126 #
1. renewiltord ◴[] No.46226988[source]
Perhaps there's some large chain of vets run by a PE firm where the PE firm did a blanket deal.
replies(1): >>46228011 #
2. genewitch ◴[] No.46228011[source]
I didn't mean to allude to this, but i heard that a lot of vet clinics are being bought by PE firms. The same way that a certain internet company is buying all the legal offices (and web medicine sites)